She Will Be Loved
by gabby227
Summary: AU/AH. Caroline has never felt safe, Damon has never felt love. Can they fill in what the other person is missing? Rated M for themes of abuse and language, and possible smut later on. ON HIATUS FOR THE MOMENT.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Yeah, so I realize that I've been MIA lately. I'm still around, I just have had a few family emergencies, and then I really had no inspiration, but this just came to me. Now, I know that it may seem similar to my story **_**Unbroken**_**, but just bear with me, it's a different story all together, I promise. **

**Also, this is my first shot at writing AU/AH. I've never written it before, so I'd really like feedback on what was good, what wasn't good, all that good stuff.**

Safe.

It was a small word, a simple word, but as she looked back on her whole life, Caroline Forbes had never felt safe.

The house she grew up in as a child was _never_ safe. If she could go back in time she would tell fifteen year old Caroline that someday, she was going to find someplace to feel safe, and somebody who actually loved her. Of course, if she had gone back in time, she would have to resist the urge to punch her father in the face. Of course, he wasn't her _real _father anyway; her real parents were long gone. After Liz and Bill Forbes had died, Caroline had been catapulted into another world.

It was a darker world; a more cruel world. It was a world in which she would never be safe. It was a world where she would cry herself to sleep at night on the cold hard floor, and where she would learn to hate everything that she ever was. It didn't matter what it was; too fat, too thin, too smart, too stupid – she could never be what people wanted her to be, and for that they found a way to tear her down.

Sometimes she'd try to make herself feel better by telling herself that if her life now was this bad, the future would be better. She was going through this hell for a reason – there just _had_ to be a reason.

It all goes back to that word: safe. Even now, as a twenty-two year old who had a good job as a fashion designer in Richmond, Virginia, she still didn't feel safe.

Caroline practically had the world. She had the money, she had the successful business, and she had friends. She had everything that anybody could ever want.

She still wasn't happy. There was a big hole inside of her that got bigger every day. She looked at her best friends Bonnie and Elena, and right away, she was envious of them. Bonnie and Elena were probably the best things to ever come out of her life – they had helped her all they could, and had always kept in touch with her, but Caroline envied the relationship s that they had. Elena had been steady with the same guy, Stefan Salvatore, since high school, and Bonnie had been with Jeremy, Elena's brother, for almost as long. Yes, Caroline thought they had the perfect lives.

-x-

Love.

It was word that had been used countless times, but never for him. His first love, his true love, Katherine, had used him up and spit him out. She had come between Damon and his brother, and then, after spewing some _I love you both _crap, she left him with his heart in little pieces. Since Katherine left, Damon had a really hard time connecting with people – after her, there was Andie and Rose, both of whom left because he had too much emotional baggage – they just couldn't deal with it.

He saw the way that his little brother looked at Elena Gilbert. They were the perfect couple, a match made in heaven. They complimented each other very well. He also saw that Bonnie Bennett and Jeremy Gilbert had something going on. Now, Damon wasn't a very big fan of Bonnie, but he knew one thing for sure – she had love and he didn't. Sometimes he wondered if his dad had even loved him. They had clashed on so many levels that it wouldn't surprise Damon at all if he had hated him. All Damon Salvatore wanted was for someone to love him as much as he could love them.

Instead of looking for someone to dedicate his life to, he started pushing people away. After Katherine came along, things were different. They were tainted. He had to wonder what it would be like he hadn't ruined him the way that she did. He was just an insecure, bourbon-drinking mess. Sure, it seemed like he had it all together – he owned the local hangout, the Mystic Grill, and on the surface, he looked and acted like a normal, well-adjusted guy. Underneath it all, however, he had one motto: drink your problems away. And that seemed to be all that he did lately.

However, unknown to both Caroline and Damon, their lives were about to change drastically.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I want to thank everybody for the reviews I got on the prologue, they made me so happy! This story is an idea I've had in my head for a long time and I'm just now sitting down to write it, so thanks again for the reviews! **

**Also, for anybody who was reading my Damon/Caroline story **_**The Revenge**_**, it's on hold right now as I accidentally deleted two chapters and replaced them with something else and I just haven't re-written them yet. I had them perfect before they got deleted and I'm having a hard time remembering what I wrote. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue that story, so it's just on hiatus for the time being.**

Elena, Stefan, Bonnie, Jeremy, and their friend Matt Donovan were sitting in the middle of the parlor of the Salvatore boarding house, where Stefan and Damon grew up, trying to figure out a way to get Damon out of the slump he was in.

"I don't think he'll fall for anything," Jeremy stated, and Stefan shook his head.

"I know, Jer, but he's driving me crazy. He sits up in his room, drinking and moping. Well, every once in a while he checks in at The Grill, but everyone knows that he drinks there, too. He eats, but he doesn't do much else. We've gotta figure out a way to get him back out there."

"Did you hear who moved to Richmond recently? Well, it's more like moved back…" Elena's voice trailed off when she looked up and saw everyone staring at her. "What? This pertains to the conversation, I swear."

After a moment, Bonnie asked, "Who?"

"Caroline."

"I bet her relationship with Tyler finally deteriorated," Matt said, speaking up for the first time. "I know that we used to be friends in high school, but seriously, that guy was such a douche."

They all nodded in agreement, but Elena spoke up, "She loved him."

"So she chose Richmond over Mystic Falls?" Stefan asked, almost sounding hurt.

"Yeah. You know she spent a good amount of her life in Richmond. The last family she was with, for the last four years, lived in Richmond, remember? What was their name? Uh…" Elena sighed as she thought about it for a moment, "Oh yeah. The Mikaelsons."

"How does this pertain to the conversation, exactly?" Jeremy asked. He was used to his sister's ramblings, but he still wanted to know.

"Well, it's just that Damon's alone, and Caroline only lives a couple of hours away and she's alone too."

When everybody had gone quiet, Elena said, "I think we should try to set them up. I mean, she just opened up that boutique in Richmond. I bet we could get Damon up there if we tried."

"And tell him what? That he needs a new suit?" Stefan asked sarcastically.

"Actually, yes," Elena said, matter-of-factly. "I mean, there's that founder's party next Saturday, and –"

"Stop right there, Elena," Stefan said after a moment. "He's got a ton of suits."

Elena made a face, "C'mon, guys, we've gotta try. Bonnie, clear your schedule tomorrow. We're taking Damon to get a new suit."

-x-

The next morning, Damon awoke to his curtains being yanked open. He groaned and covered his head with his blanket.

"C'mon, Damon, rise and shine," Elena said, in her best sing-song voice. "We've got stuff to do today."

"Today's my day off, Elena," Damon said from underneath the blanket. "I don't have to do jack shit today."

"Damon," Elena said, yanking the blanket off of him in one swift motion, "You know that you don't have to go to work unless you want to. Besides, Bonnie and I are going to take you up to a boutique in Richmond. You need a new suit."

"A new suit? Really? I 've got at least 10 good ones that I can wear to that thing next Saturday."

"What thing?" Elena decided that it was best to play dumb so Damon didn't know what she was up to.

"Oh, come on, Elena," Damon said, taking her hint and sitting up, "This is all about the founder's party next Saturday. You want me to get out there and find my one true love, like you and my little brother did. News flash: I don't have a soul mate. No true love for me."

"Damon, you've only been with three girls –"

"No, I've only been serious about three girls. I've been with a lot more."

" – and a little drive won't kill you."

"It's not a little drive, Elena. Richmond is almost two hours away from here."

"C'mon, Damon, think of it as an adventure." Elena got into his dresser and threw some clothes his way. "You can even drive."

Damon thought about it for a moment before saying, "Fine. But Judgey better not antagonize me. I'm not in the fucking mood for that bullshit."

Elena nodded, "Bonnie will be civil, I promise."

-x-

The day had been moving slowly for Caroline. Part of her just wanted to close up shop and go home early, but what was there to go home to? Other than her dog, Lizzie, it was just an empty house. She had nothing. She didn't even really go out anymore. Even though the abuse had happened years ago, Caroline still lived it. She dreamt about it, she had very vivid flashbacks to where she was living the abuse all over again. She even still had the scars to prove it.

But what had everybody told her? She was strong. She survived, so that made her strong, right? After being beaten, raped, used and tortured, she was still standing, and living her life as normally as she could. Just because she lived alone didn't mean that she didn't live as safely as she could. Even with her state of the art burglar alarm and her German shepherd who protected her fiercely, Caroline didn't feel safe. However, she couldn't take the chance. After her breakup with Tyler Lockwood a few years back, Caroline didn't want to take any chances.

"_What have I done for you in the past, Care? I've protected you. You're nothing without me."_

_Caroline watched Tyler closely as she stood in the kitchen, "I need to be on my own, Ty. I need to be my own person."_

"_I can give you that. Remember, I told you, if you chose me, I'd give you the whole fucking world."_

"_But it's not just me, is it, Ty?" Caroline was starting to get a little bolder, although she wasn't sure where this boldness was coming from. "I know you're fucking every girl that you can get your filthy hands on. And I know you've been fucking that Sarah whatshername behind my back."_

"_Do you really believe that?"_

"_Yes, I honestly do. Do you know who I got that little piece of information from?"_

_She saw Tyler's normally light brown eyes turn dark, to almost black, as he said, "Sarah told you."_

"_Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Caroline said sarcastically. She even clapped her hands for enthusiasm. "Yes, Sarah told me that you two were fucking, and if I loved you in any way at all, I'd step out of the picture so she could have you all to herself, because, well," Caroline stuck out her bottom lip for emphasis, "she's just so needy and could really use a guy like you."_

_She felt it before she heard it; Tyler's hand connected with the side of her face, and she flew across the linoleum floor. Her head hit the wall, so she reach up and checked for blood. There was none._

"_I'm done, Ty," Caroline said, after she regained her confidence. "I'm tired of the fights and the lies. I've had it."_

_Caroline went over to where her duffel bag was by the front door, but before she had a chance to leave, Tyler spoke up, "You'll be back. I'll make sure of it."_

If asked, Caroline would honestly tell people that she came back to Richmond because that's where the only family she had was. The Mikaelsons, the last family she lived with while she was in the system, had become close to her. Their oldest son, Niklaus, was very fond of Caroline, and after he was discharged from the Marines, Caroline had him come and work for her. Sure, he was just labeled as her assistant, but she felt safer knowing that if there was a problem, he could handle it.

But that wasn't the real reason she moved back to Virginia. No, the reason was that Tyler was still in Chicago, where Caroline had went to fashion school, and she wanted to be away from him. She didn't want to risk running into him.

Shaking away her thoughts, Caroline took a few deep breaths as the bell rang over the boutique door. She looked up and saw Elena and Bonnie and…was that Damon?

"Oh my God, Elena!" Caroline cried, jumping up and going to hug her best friend. She hadn't seen Elena in years.

"Hey, Care," Elena said, hugging her back. "It's good to see you."

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked, going to hug Bonnie.

"Damon needs a new suit," Elena said, going over to where Caroline kept her portfolio books. She opened one and saw the dress that was on the page, "God, Care, these are gorgeous."

Caroline shrugged, "I can help Damon out, I guess. What do you need this suit for, anyway?"

"The founder's party next Saturday," Damon said as Caroline picked up her measuring tape and went over to him.

Damon watched her carefully as she started measuring him. She wrapped her hands around him to measure his waist, and he just couldn't resist, "I know you just wanted to touch me."

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Seriously, do you think that you are smooth? 'Cause you're not."

She went down to measure his in-seam, which was the length of his thigh, and she heard him chuckle, "Easy with the goods, darling."

"Not your darling."

While Caroline was finishing up measuring Damon, Elena and Bonnie were over, looking at her books, when they saw a man come closer. He was tall and blonde, and he had caught Elena's eye.

"Hi," he said, offering his hand for her to shake it, "I'm Niklaus. Call me Klaus."

"Klaus," Elena said, shaking his hand, "I'm Elena."

"Yeah, Caroline's mentioned you. That would make you Bonnie, right?" He said, looking in Bonnie's direction. She just nodded.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Getting Damon a new suit," Elena answered, nodding in Damon's direction. They saw Damon make another smart ass comment and Caroline poked him with a pin. That made Klaus laugh.

"You know, while we're here, I wouldn't mind a new dress," Bonnie mentioned. "I need a new one for that founder's party."

"Care does high quality work, you know," Klaus said. "I bet she'd be happy to make you one. You know, not that she has a life outside of this place."

Elena raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Her whole life is in this place. She works all the time. She makes a pretty penny, too," he added. "I've known her for almost eight years and she has turned into a real workaholic."

"You're Klaus Mikaelson, aren't you?" Elena said, thoughts clicking in her head. "The overprotective big brother figure."

He nodded, "Yeah. Caroline was put in my mother's house when I was in Afghanistan, but when I came back on medical leave, she was there and we grew pretty close. I love her like my sister."

"What happened to you?"

"I was hit by shrapnel. It got me in the lower back and I had to take a few years off. Caroline was always there for me, so I'm just returning the favor."

There was a moment of silence, and Elena noticed that Klaus was staring at Damon. She looked at him, "Something wrong?"

"I know that guy. He looks so familiar."

"You know Damon Salvatore? We're from Mystic Falls."

"Oh, yeah. The playboy of Mystic Falls." Klaus rolled his eyes, "I really hate guys like that. The real love 'em and leave 'em type, huh?"

"It's not like that, Klaus," Elena said, but he gave her a look.

"His reputation precedes him," Klaus said. "I know all about him."

"He's…he was hurt. The love of his life turned out to be a manipulative bitch that used both him and his brother to get what she wanted. That really fucked him up."

"I guess that could hurt anybody," Klaus said thoughtfully. "Still, he's probably hurting people."

Elena shook her head, "He's afraid to open his heart again. Katherine really did a number on him."

"I understand that," Klaus said, nodding in Caroline's direction. "She's the same way. Tyler…well, he messed her up, too. She's afraid to be with anybody. It's been almost three years since they broke up and Caroline hasn't been on one single date."

"So, tell me, Klaus," Elena said, watching him carefully, "Did you do anything to Tyler after he hurt Caroline?"

He shook his head, "No. I was in Iraq. But don't get me wrong, I'd love to do something to him. However, killing him isn't cruel enough for me. I would really like to see that asshole suffer."

"I know the feeling," Elena agreed. "Yes, I definitely know that feeling."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, but my beta had a term paper to write before he could actually beta my chapter, so I had to wait. To make it better though (hopefully), I'm uploading this chapter and the next one.**

**I also thought I should put another note on this because I realized that I hadn't thoroughly put a warning on this story, and I should have, so here it is now: This story is about a girl who had nothing in her past. She had nothing but heartbreak and her past is full of abuse, both physical and mental, and she had no one she could trust so she learned how to be her own shoulder to lean on. There will be flashbacks and mentions of abuse, attempted suicide, self-mutilation (i.e. cutting herself). You have been warned.**

A week passed, and on Friday, Caroline found herself of the front porch of the Gilbert house, ready to ring the doorbell. She hadn't actually been at this house since she had moved to Richmond when she was fourteen, and she had a lot of memories at this house. Elena had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, and she had been the one shoulder Caroline could cry on, and the one person that, even though she didn't understand everything that Caroline was going through, she at least tried to understand. Elena had tried to help Caroline through everything that she had been through, and that was mostly why she was her best friend.

_C'mon, Caroline_, she thought to herself, _you can do it. All you have to do is ring the freaking doorbell._

Before she had a chance to ring it, though, the door flew open and Caroline saw Jeremy Gilbert standing there. She smiled weakly, "I, uh, I'm looking for Elena."

Jeremy shook his head, "Elena doesn't really stay here much. She spends most of her time with Stefan. You're welcome to come in, though. Bonnie's making dinner." He stepped aside so Caroline could go through the front door, and she walked into the kitchen, where she saw Bonnie cutting vegetables.

"Hey, Care," Bonnie said, setting down the knife. "Stefan taught me this really neat recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce."

"What're you doing here? I came here expecting to find Elena."

"I live here now," Bonnie said, picking up a wooden spoon to stir her sauce. "Elena's usually at the boarding house. She spends most of her time with Stefan."

"Well, I've got your dress in my car. I can go out and get it."

A few minutes later, Caroline returned to the kitchen with Bonnie's dress, and she waited patiently while Bonnie tried it on. Caroline smiled when Bonnie came down the stairs, wearing it. The dress was knee length, lilac purple and satin. It was one of Caroline's best pieces.

"Purple is really your color, Bon," Caroline said, making sure the dress fit. It fit perfectly.

"Thanks for the dress, Care. How much do I owe you?"

For a moment, Caroline looked confused, "You don't have to pay me anything. This is just a favor from one friend to another."

"Absolutely not, Caroline. I'm paying you for this dress, just like I know that Damon's going to pay you for the fancy suit you made him. How are you going to keep business if you're giving stuff away for free?"

"Don't worry about it, Bon," Caroline said nonchalantly. "I do well enough. This is no big deal."

-x-

When Caroline found out that Elena was practically living at the Salvatore boarding house, it made her feel better. Ever since the abuse in the first couple of homes she was in, Caroline was afraid to be alone with guys – any guys at all. One thing that she had learned throughout the years was that it didn't matter what a guy said, so much as what he did. Caroline almost felt guilty because she was even scared to be in the same room with Jeremy alone, and this was a guy she had known practically her entire life. Part of her was angry for everything she had ever been through – and Caroline had been through a lot. She had learned that the only guy she could depend on was Klaus. He had always helped her out with no ulterior motive. Because of that, she knew a little bit of what it was like to be loved. She wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Klaus.

_Klaus limped through the house, looking for Caroline. He was vaguely aware of this girl living in his house, even though he just had gotten back from Afghanistan on medical leave. True, when he was at the VA hospital, his mother had brought Caroline with her to visit him from time to time, Klaus still wasn't sure about her. This girl seemed to be an enigma. Sometimes she was just happy and bubbly, and other times, she just wanted to be left alone._

_As he went past the bathroom, he did a double take. There was Caroline, lying on the floor, razor blade in her hand and cuts on her wrist and forearm. He went over to see how deep the cuts were, and he gasped at the depth. She had to have been really determined. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her arm, adding pressure to try to get the bleeding to stop, and then called 911._

_Klaus heard the siren of the ambulance as he knelt beside Caroline, keeping pressure on her wounds, but she had lost a lot of blood. For the first time in a long time, he was genuinely afraid that somebody might die. War does awful things to a person, and while he was away in Afghanistan, he saw people die on a daily basis. However, this was not like that._

_They got her to the hospital, and she had required stitches. Of course, they had to put more blood back into her as she had lost quite a lot. Klaus did not leave her side the entire time. After a few days, when she was able to move around again, they had made her a bed in the psychiatric ward of the hospital, and, even though she didn't get up and see anybody, Klaus visited her every day. Usually he would just chat with the nurses and find out how Caroline was doing. Technically, the nurses weren't supposed to give information to someone who wasn't Caroline's biological family, but Klaus could be very persuasive._

_When she was finally strong enough to go to visitations, Caroline was pretty surprised to see Klaus. He sat there at the table as she came up to him, "What are you doing here?"_

"_I'm checking on you," he stated, matter-of-factly. "I had to make sure you were alright."_

"_I don't understand why you saved me," she said, her gaze fixed on the table in front of her. "You should have just let me die."_

"_I couldn't do that, Caroline. You're so young, and you have so much to live for."_

_Caroline laughed bitterly, "You don't know that."_

"_Can you at least tell me what happened? My mother has been so good to you, so why did you choose right now to do this?"_

_Caroline's gaze never left the table as she answered, "Really, it's not a big deal. It's done, it's over with." Her eyes came up to meet Klaus' and she added, "You really shouldn't have saved me."_

"_C'mon Caroline, you can talk to me. I know that I haven't known you for very long, but I did save your life. You could at least give me an explanation."_

"_You did not save my life; you interrupted my death. I'm not worth it to save. I'm tainted, I'm dirty and the only thing I actually own is the garbage bag full of clothes that I've towed around from house to house. I don't have a real family; I don't have anything."_

_Klaus' eyes darkened as he recognized the words, "Caroline, that's not you talking. It sounds more like my sister, Rebekah. She's gotten to you, hasn't she?"_

"_It's not important," Caroline said, avoiding the subject._

_That's when Klaus took Caroline's hands in his, "Caroline, I know you've been through hell. You've been through way too much to go through any more alone, and I promise you that I'm going to be there for you, to protect you. I'm going to be the big brother you never wanted."_

Klaus had definitely kept his promise. When she started dating Tyler, though, Klaus had been in Iraq. There was nothing he could do there. Besides, Klaus was serving his country and Caroline respected that. Of course, when he got home and found out what had happened between Caroline and Tyler, she had to talk him down. He was ready to find Tyler and beat the shit out of him. Caroline didn't want Klaus' hands dirty over someone so worthless.

Caroline grabbed the suit that was in the back of her car. She went up to the front door of the boarding house and knocked.

Stefan opened the front door, "Caroline, what are you doing here?"

"Wow, Stefan, that sounds kinda rude when you say it like that," Caroline joked. She smiled at him, "I'm here to bring Damon his suit."

Stefan stepped aside and Caroline stepped inside. She smiled politely at him and headed upstairs.

-x-

By the time she had fitted Damon's suit, Caroline was tired, and in no mood to drive all the way back to Richmond. When Elena suggested that she stay there at the boarding house that night, Caroline decided against her better judgment that she would take her up on her offer.

"I didn't bring any clothes with me, though," Caroline said, sitting on Stefan and Elena's bed, watching her best friend dig through her closet. "I don't have anything to wear."

"We're practically the same size," Elena said, taking a moment to look back at Caroline. "I'm looking for something for you to wear."

Caroline nodded, and it went silent, so Elena took this opportunity to say what was on her mind, "Care, I want you to go to the founder's party with me tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"Well, technically, you _are_ from a founding family, so you belong there. It's just a bunch of people from founding families who dress up, drink and dance like they are somebody important. Bonnie and I always go to those parties with Jer and Stefan. Besides, I think it'd be good for you to get out and socialize a little.

There was a moment of silence before Caroline spoke up, "Carol Lockwood is a founding family member, right?"

Elena nodded, not sure where this was going.

"I can't go. Not since my relationship with Tyler…" Caroline's voice faded off.

"Don't worry about that. This year is an election year. Carol isn't going to do anything to risk her reputation, I can promise you that. Besides, you are going to that party, even if I have to tie you up, throw you in the trunk of my car, and take you there myself."

Caroline looked at her friend, wide-eyed, but did not say anything. She didn't need to; the look on Elena's face told her everything she needed to know. Elena was serious.

"Fine," Caroline said, conceding the point. "But I'm going to need something to wear."


	4. Chapter 3

When Klaus pulled into the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house the next day, Caroline was right by the door, waiting for him. He let Lizzie out and then came up to Caroline, "Hey you."

After pulling him in for a hug, Caroline said, "I'm sorry you had to drive all this way –"

"Don't mention it, Care. It's in my job description."

"So where's my dress?" she asked, a grin on her face.

"I'll bring it in, hold on." Klaus went outside and pulled a bagged dress out of the back of his car. He handed it to her and Caroline led him through the house and into the parlor, where he was surprised that a bunch of people were waiting for him.

"Um, yeah," Caroline said, scratching an imaginary itch on her forehead, avoiding Klaus' gaze. "When Elena found out you were coming, she called a bunch of people. They really want to meet you."

"What's that?" Elena asked Caroline, coming down the stairs.

Caroline shrugged, "It's a dress I made a long ass time ago. I never got a chance to wear it. I was starting to think that I never would…" her voice trailed off.

"Well, now you've got a chance to wear it. I bet it'll look great on you. C'mon, let's go upstairs so you can try it on."

-x-

"Caroline talks about you a lot," Bonnie remarked, watching Klaus closely and then added, "She's told me what you did for her. Thank you."

"For what?"

"Caroline needed somebody to love her, to take care of her. Then there you were; you saved her life. I just felt that I needed to thank you for that."

_Caroline hadn't been back at the Mikaelson house for very long. She was surprised that they even took her back, in all honesty, because every other household had gotten rid of her whenever she messed up. The suicide attempt was Caroline messing up, but after she got out of the hospital, Esther had requested that Caroline stay in her house._

_She was just wandering around the house, not real sure what to do with herself, when Caroline heard voices coming from the living room. She was just going to let it go when she heard the voices get louder. She recognized the voices right away; it was Klaus and his sister, Rebekah._

"_What the hell, Nik? I mean, seriously, why did you even go and see her? She's like all the others we've had pass through our house through the years. There's nothing special about Caroline, at all."_

_When Caroline heard her name, she leaned against the wall, careful not to be seen, and watched through the crack in the door. She just had to know what was going on in there._

"_I had to see her, Bekah. I should be asking you the same question, though. What the hell were you thinking telling her all that stuff?"_

"_I didn't say anything that was untrue, Nik. She's weak if that's all it takes for her to try to kill herself."_

"_Yeah, because you have someone doubting your every move, so you know what it feels like. Seriously, Rebekah, Caroline has had it at least one hundred times worse than you could even imagine."_

_Rebekah scoffed, "Yeah, okay. Whatever."_

"_Rebekah, Father left years ago. You need to deal with it and get over it, already. You think that you have it bad because your daddy left you?" Klaus was getting angry, and Caroline had never seen this side of him before, so it scared her a little. She continued to watch as he continued, "At least your daddy is still alive, Rebekah. Her parents are dead. She literally has nothing except that bag full of clothes."_

_Rebekah scowled, "Don't talk about him like that, Nik."_

"_What? The fact that he left without telling anyone? That happened a long ass time ago, Rebekah. If you think you have it worse than Caroline, you're gravely mistaken."_

"_Whatever. It's not like I had a mother, anyway. She dedicates her life to these kids, but there's a million where Caroline came from. Soon enough, she'll be replaced with someone else – it always happens."_

"_Yeah, but at least you can go to your mother and talk to her, tell her you love her. Caroline's never going to have that, ever again."_

"_That's because she's got our mother, Nik. Mother loves her better than she does me."_

"_Oh, boo hoo, Bekah," Klaus said, getting tired of his sister's arguments. "Caroline takes an interest in what Mother talks about. Have you ever thought about why that is?"_

"_Mother has betrayed me."_

"_If Mother has betrayed you by letting these kids into her heart, then okay, sure. But, think about it, if Mother has betrayed us, then why doesn't anybody else feel the same way you do? Why aren't Elijah, Finn, and Kol making just as big as a fuss as you?"_

"_Because," Rebekah said, and Caroline noticed her eyes widening, "Because they're not as sensitive as me."_

"_God, Rebekah," Klaus said, rolling his eyes and going back towards the door. "Think about what you're saying. The only reason you are even saying these things is because your daddy left you. But you know what? You can track Father down if you really want to. Caroline's parents are dead. They're dead, Rebekah! She's never going to be able to hold them, to talk to them, to tell them that she loves them. Since they died, she's been rooted around from home to home, and nobody has ever loved her. Think about it – you want to know why she's so distant? Why she doesn't talk to anyone? Take a look at her past. They've used her, chewed her up and spit her out. Everybody's set her up to fail, but I'm not going to be like them. You ever noticed that she's afraid to be alone with me, Elijah, Kol or Fin? It's because so many guys have used her wrong – and she's only fourteen fucking years old! What were you doing when you were fourteen, Bekah?"_

"_I'm only sixteen now, Nik."_

"_Doesn't answer my question. When you were fourteen, you were going on dates, spending Saturdays at the mall, talking on the phone to your superficial friends about things at school. She'll never have that. She has spent most of her life running and hiding from the monsters that just happen to be real. She'll never be normal, not ever!"_

"_Exactly my point, Nik. Why the hell would mother love someone so broken that she lets words get to her and tries to kill herself? That's just idiotic. She doesn't deserve love."_

"_Everyone deserves love, Rebekah! No matter who you are, you deserve it. It's something that you give unconditionally!"_

_Rebekah stormed out of the living room and bumped right into Caroline._

"_Watch where you're going!"_

"_Rebekah, you bumped into me."_

"_Yeah, well, you shouldn't be eavesdropping." Rebekah sighed, running her hand through her blonde hair and stomped up the stairs._

"_Look, I didn't mean to-" Caroline started, but Klaus stopped her._

"_It's just the way that she is."_

"_Klaus, thank you –"_

_He shook his head, "No. My family calls me Nik."_

-x-

"That dress is absolutely stunning, Caroline," Elena remarked when Caroline came out of the bathroom in her dress. "Did you make it? I didn't see anything like that in your book."

Caroline shrugged, "It was made when Tyler and I first got together. He was a pretty important guy. He was pre-law at Chicago University and he went to big events, so I always thought that I'd get a chance to wear this dress. But, Tyler never took me anywhere, so the dress stayed in my closet."

"So you're wearing it now?"

"I never thought I'd get the chance to wear it. It's been in my closet for years. I was getting ready to sell it."

"Well, you look absolutely beautiful. The people of Mystic Falls aren't going to know what hit them."

Caroline shook her head, "I still don't think I should go, Elena. I mean, I haven't been on a date since Tyler and I broke up, and besides that, I'm not from Mystic Falls –"

"Actually, you are. The Forbes' were a founding family of Mystic Falls, which makes you part of us. Besides," Elena said, heating up her curling iron, "remember last night, when I said I'd drag you there even if I had to tie you up and put you in my trunk? Don't tempt me, Caroline. I will do it."

Caroline shook her head, "I don't even have anyone to go with –"

"Actually, you do." Elena said, nodding towards the door. Caroline was surprised when she saw Klaus standing there.

He smiled, "My suit's in the car."


	5. Chapter 4

Caroline had never actually been in the Lockwood mansion before. She knew where it was, and that the Lockwoods were one of the most prominent founding families of Mystic Falls, but she had never actually been inside their house. Even when she started dating Tyler, she didn't date him when he lived in Mystic Falls. They had bumped into each other in Chicago while she was living there, going to fashion school. He was going to school, too, and their relationship just evolved from there.

When Caroline went into the house, she looked around and was in awe; the place was just magnificent. From the way that Tyler had always talked about his family, Caroline knew that they were very well off. The Lockwood line had been mayors of Mystic Falls since the founding of the town in 1864.

Her head was starting to swim. As Caroline never backed down from anything in her entire life, she wasn't sure that this was where she was supposed to be. She wasn't a founder of Mystic Falls anymore. Sure, the Forbes family _was_ a founding family, but Caroline just didn't feel like a Forbes anymore. She didn't belong here. As Klaus escorted her into the big ballroom that evening, Caroline could feel herself start to lose control. She was starting to shake and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

Klaus saw it, too. When he felt Caroline tighten her grip on his arm, Klaus looked at her, smiling, and rubbed his hand over hers, "Relax. It's going to be okay."

Caroline shook her head, "No, it isn't. Do you know who lives here, Nik?"

He nodded, "Sure. The mayor lives here."

"Not just the mayor," Caroline said, shaking her head. "Carol Lockwood."

Klaus nodded slowly, "As in Tyler's mother." It was a comment, not a question. Caroline nodded, even though she really didn't have to verify it for him, and she felt herself start to go back into her shell. Her gaze was shifting to the floor, and she grew silent. Klaus knew what was happening right away – Caroline didn't do this very often anymore, but back when they first met, it was all that she ever did. Klaus turned so he was facing her and looked at her, "Caroline, look at me."

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her focus, and took a deep breath before looking into his eyes. He smiled weakly at her, "You're okay. You're going to be okay. I mean, you've got all those friends of yours who are going to be here and I'm here, in case she starts anything. You're safe, I promise."

Caroline nodded, even though she really didn't believe him, and took another deep breath before taking his arm once more and walking into the ballroom. For one brief moment, she almost felt like she belonged. Caroline had spent practically her entire life being on the outside looking in, seeing all the people who had friends and belonged, but not being one of them. And now, here she was – at a real founder's party, like she really mattered.

She and Klaus danced a few times during the night, and she had even had some champagne. Now, Caroline wasn't really a champagne type of girl, but a few sips didn't hurt her. The night was almost perfect when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around, "Hey, Stefan."

Stefan smiled at her and then looked at Klaus, "Elena wants to dance with you. She didn't get a chance to meet you like the rest of us did." As Klaus left, Stefan held out his hand and Caroline hesitated for a moment before reaching out and grabbing it.

"You look really beautiful tonight, Caroline. I don't think I've ever seen you dressed up like this before."

"Yeah, well, I guess we really haven't spent much time around each other in dressy occasions," Caroline said as they swayed to the music.

"Have you seen Damon today?"

Caroline shook her head, "No, and I'm glad. He keeps hitting on me."

"And you keep telling him no. He hasn't had that happen in a very long time." Stefan chuckled as he twirled Caroline, "I bet Damon really likes your fire. He doesn't get told no very often. You do have fire, Caroline. Does Klaus like that about you, too?"

Caroline's eyes widened, "Wait, do you think that Nik and I –" she burst into giggles. Stefan watched her silently, utterly confused.

"Sorry," she said, getting her giggles under control. "Nik and I are not a couple. He's my brother. That's all that's ever been between us, and that's all that'll ever be."

Stefan nodded understandingly, "He seems awfully protective of you."

Caroline nodded, "I sure am lucky to have him in my life. He's always been my rock."

"What about a boyfriend? I mean, shouldn't your boyfriend be your rock?"

"No boyfriend, Stefan," Caroline said, shaking her head. "No boyfriend ever again. I give up on love; my last relationship was just an utter disaster.

They danced in silence for a few moments when Caroline looked up and saw her; Carol Lockwood. And she was coming toward Caroline.

She pushed herself away from Stefan, "I, uh…I've gotta be somewhere else. Anywhere else."

"What's the matter?"

Carol Lockwood approached them before Caroline had a chance to get away, "Caroline Forbes. What are you doing here?"

"I, uh…Elena wanted me to come tonight," Caroline said softly. Carol just made a face.

"Do you really think that you really belong here, Caroline? I'd think that, after living in Richmond for the last ten years, I wouldn't expect to see you at a founder's party. I mean, what would your parents think?"

"Really, Carol? I mean, really?"

Damon was at the bar, not even ten feet away from where Carol and Caroline were standing. He couldn't pass up the chance to get on Carol's bad side. He stood and calmly walked over to them, looked Carol up and down, "Do you honestly think that you have any right to tell her that she doesn't belong here, Carol?"

"I didn't say that…"

"Yeah, well I can speak your language. I know what you're doing to her, Carol. Here's my question, though; what makes you so much better than her, considering you married into being a founder. Think about it, Carol; do _you_ even belong here?"

Carol went silent for a moment, watching Damon closely, "You know, before you go defending this girl, this nobody, you should really get to know her. You'll change your tune."

With that, Carol walked away, and both Damon and Stefan turned around to see that Caroline was gone. She had bolted out the front door before anybody could notice.

-x-

Caroline was so upset with herself. For once in her life, Caroline had actually thought maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to blend in, have somewhat of a normal life. But nothing in Caroline's life had ever been normal. Caroline was walking down the street after taking off her heels, carrying them in her left hand. She knew that her makeup had to be running from the tears that just wouldn't stop. She reached up and rubbed her eye; seriously, she had been such a goddamn fool. How could she think that she'd ever be normal? Nothing in her life was normal, not ever. She was just pissed at herself.

That's when she heard the car behind her. She could tell from the sound of the motor running that it wasn't Klaus' car.

"If you're going to run me over, just do it already," she said bitterly. Then she heard his laugh.

"Damon?" She asked. She shook her head, "I don't care, I was serious."

"I'm not going to run you over, Caroline. Just get in the car."

She shook her head, "I'm going to go and get my car and get the hell out of town. Carol was right; I don't belong here."

"C'mon, Caroline, don't be stubborn. It's at least ten miles to the boarding house; you can't walk that far. Just get in the damn car and I'll drive you."

Caroline chewed it over in her head for a moment, and, against her better judgment, she got into the passenger's seat. She looked at Damon, "What the fuck are you doing here, anyways?"

"A thank you would be nice," Damon replied sarcastically, but his smile faded away when he saw the look on her face. "Don't you worry about Carol. She's a bitch. She's always been one and will probably always be one. She's the stereotypical, overly-religious, thinks she's better than everybody but her son, bitch."

"Actually," Caroline said, "I'd say that she and her son are about on level ground when it comes to that."

"Did you date Tyler?" Damon asked, his voice soft. Caroline could only nod.

"What for? That guy is a massive tool."

Caroline smiled weakly, "He was so sweet in the beginning. He was everything I thought I ever wanted." Her gaze was fixed on the floor, "That's the thing about growing up with nothing; you don't know the good from the bad. You have to take things at what they're worth, and I was so blind. I was so stupid."

"Tyler is the biggest douche I've ever seen," Damon said.

When they got to the boarding house, Damon came around and opened Caroline's door, "Here, let's get you inside."

He wrapped his suit jacket around her shoulders and escorted her into the boarding house. He led her into the parlor.

"C'mon, let me fix you a drink. It'll make you feel better."

Caroline nodded, sighed, and looked at him, "Sure. I mean, why not?"

Damon poured her a glass of bourbon and handed it to her, and she drank it in one gulp.

"Well, you know how," she said, only half sarcastically.

She nodded, "Sometimes life gets so fucking bad that I need to get drunk. I've never drank with anybody else before, though."

"Not even your brother?"

"Who, Nik?" she asked, and he nodded. "His name is Klaus, by the way. I don't think you two had ever been officially introduced." Caroline took a gulp of the drunk he handed her and answered, "Nik is – well, he's everything to me. I love him to death because he's the first person in my pathetic little life that ever cared about me. I mean, I had Elena, and that was all good, but I needed someone else – someone who lived near me. Nik – he helps me."

"Do you even remember life here in Mystic Falls before you left?" Damon asked her, handing her another glass.

Caroline took a swig of it and then shook her head, "It's fuzzy. My parents died when I was eleven, and I can remember every little thing that happened after, but before, it feels like…it's blank. I can remember bits and pieces, like something Dad would say, or a certain dress that Mom wore. I don't remember much else. It's like…you know, on TV, when they're doing a flashback, how the screen is all blurry right before?"

Damon laughed, and that made Caroline giggle, "I'm serious, Damon. I know it's probably a lame ass analogy, but it's the best I can come close to when describing my memories. You know, Nik is dead convinced that I've blocked stuff out because of the hurt and pain that I went through, but do you know what's funny?" Caroline waited for Damon to shrug and then she continued, "I remember every little thing that happened _after _they died. I can even remember what dress I wore to their funeral. It's weird, because a lot of my horrors, a lot of my demons, they happened after I was put into the system."

"You were never adopted?"

She shook her head, "When it comes to adoption, people want babies and little kids. They want, like, four and five year olds. I was eleven. It's like, when someone wants to adopt a dog, what do they get? They get a puppy. They're the easiest to train. It's the same with foster kids."

"What about Klaus' family?" Damon was pretty interested now. There was something special about her, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Esther wanted to adopt me. She was ready to." Once again, her gaze was fixed on the floor. "My case worker said that she couldn't. I had too many problems; I _was_ too many problems. I was fourteen by that time and I was a stubborn, obnoxious, moody teenager. She said that I was unlovable, that I was unadoptable."

"You've got to know that was bullshit," Damon said, enraged. He wasn't really enraged just because it was Caroline; it was more the fact that someone would tell _any_ kid that. "There is no one in this entire world who is unlovable. And I bet Esther would agree with me."

I don't know, Damon," Caroline said, tears in her eyes. "Looking back on what I was, or rather, who I was, sometimes I wonder if what she said was absolutely true."

-x-

Four hours and two bottles of bourbon later, Caroline was pretty buzzed. Damon gave her credit, though; the girl could really hold her liquor. What Damon didn't know, was a while back, Caroline had stopped drinking. She needed to make sure she stayed in control of herself.

"Tell me something, Caroline," Damon said, watching her closely, "How does somebody who only drinks to get drunk have such a high tolerance for alcohol, anyway?"

Caroline grinned, "I've consumed my fair share of alcohol, Damon. I just don't like to drink around other people; that does not mean that I don't drink alone."

"Why is that?"

"What? Why don't I like to drink around other people, or why do I like to drink alone?"

"It's really actually the same question, boiled down to it," Damon answered and Caroline giggled.

"Sure. It's just that when I drink alone, I don't have to worry about people taking advantage of me. I've never ordered a drink in a bar."

"Have you ever even been in a bar?"

"Sure. I've been to The Grill, and there are a few bar and grills and sports bars in Richmond and Chicago that I like…"

"Sports bars? What about a regular bar?"

Caroline shook her head, "I don't like regular bars. I've known my fair share of drunk people, and I don't like them. They're scary."

"Then you haven't found the right people," Damon stated, and it made Caroline silent.

"I enjoyed getting drunk with you, Caroline, "Damon said. "You're not the worst company in the world."

"Is that a compliment?" Caroline asked.

"Damon thought about it for a moment before answering, "Yes. Definitely a compliment."

"You know, Damon," Caroline said, taking a drink of water out of the glass that sat beside her, "I've bared my soul tonight. I'm not usually like that, but I have to know – what's your deal?"

Damon shook his head, "I don't know why I am even going to tell you this, but there was this girl. She was amazing and I could've seen myself growing old with her." It was Damon's turn to watch the floor, "But I was just fooling myself. She wanted both me and Stefan, and she enjoyed playing us against each other. It took years for me and Stefan to get back to an equilibrium where we could talk, laugh, and trust each other again."

"Yeah, but you're the Salvatore brothers," Caroline said, looking him straight in the eye. "Your love for your brother is better than anything else. You guys care about each other and want what's best for each other, right?"

Damon nodded, "Yeah. Just remember that the first time you ever see us have a fight."


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know it's been a month since I've updated and I'm sorry, but my grandmother needs a knee replacement, so I've been taking care of her. She can't walk by herself so I don't have much time to sit down and write. Between that and my beta's schedule with school, our schedules seem to conflict with each other. I've finally got some time since my mom is taking care of my grandma on weekends, so hopefully *crosses fingers* I'll get some more written soon.**

When Caroline woke up the next morning, she could remember last night in vivid detail. While she was not ashamed about her past and spoke very openly about it, part of her wondered if she should have shared so freely with Damon. She had learned the hard way that not everybody was comfortable hearing those things. She made a few people uncomfortable without meaning to, and that's one of the reasons that she didn't normally talk about her past unless someone asked. Part of her remembered that Damon had asked a few questions, but she wasn't sure if she should've answered everything. A lot of people in her past felt bad for her, and Caroline didn't want anybody's pity. She was a strong person and hated the fact that anybody felt sorry for her.

As Caroline sat up groggily, she rubbed her eyes. Even though she didn't drink that much last night, she felt like she had a little bit of a hangover. Her head was just throbbing and she felt like she wanted to climb back into the bed and sleep for a year. Instead, she grabbed her purse and pulled a bottle of aspirin out of it, taking two of the tablets. Caroline looked around; she almost forgot that she had gone upstairs and used one of the spare rooms. After getting up and dressing, she slowly tip-toed through the house. She felt the need to get out of here, like, now.

She got as far as the front door before she heard his familiar voice, "Why are we sneaking, Caroline?"

Damn it. Caroline's eyes scanned the room, and there, leaning on the wall in front of the doorway, was Klaus. Caroline groaned; part of her wished that he would've left Mystic Falls already to go back to Richmond. If there was anybody that Caroline did not want to see right now it was him. Well, him or Elena. There were two people in this entire world that she could not lie to, and it was them. Sometimes it seemed like they knew her better than she knew herself.

"I, uh…" Caroline sighed heavily. "I've got to get back to Richmond. You know, I have that wedding dress to work on, and the beadwork is going to take for-fucking-ever –"

"You didn't answer my question, though. You seem almost itchy to get out of here."

"Yeah, I am. Okay? I want to get out of here before Damon wakes up."

"What happened last night that's got you so jumpy?" Klaus walked over to her and watched her carefully.

Caroline shrugged; she might as well tell him the truth. He was going to find out eventually anyway; he always did, "Last night Damon and I did some drinking."

Klaus nodded, "I know. Did you know that after we got home from the founder's party last night, Stefan collected at least three different empty liquor bottles? What were you thinking, exactly, Caroline? Getting drunk alone with a guy with a reputation like Damon Salvatore?"

"I didn't get drunk, Nik. I just drank until I was buzzed and then I stopped and drank water. I don't get drunk around other people; you know that better than anyone else."

"You're right. But what happened at the founder's party that made you leave like that?"

Caroline groaned, "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"So, you're just going to go back to your shop and pretend like it never happened? That's not healthy, Caroline, and you know it."

"So, are we done here? I mean, can I go now?"

"No, as a matter of a fact, you can't. I understand that you want to get out of here before Damon wakes up, but are you really going to do that to your friends? Just sneak out at seven in the morning? C'mon, put your bag down and I'll make you breakfast."

Caroline groaned, but there was no sense in arguing with him; when Klaus made up his mind, he stuck to it. Caroline dropped her bag by the front door and followed him into the kitchen.

"This isn't even your house, Nik. How are you going to know where things are?"

"Easy. Just look around until I find what I'm looking for."

It took a few more minutes than he anticipated, but about half an hour later, Caroline was eating eggs and sausage. Klaus was a good cook, and he enjoyed it, too. Caroline ate it greedily – she just loved his cooking.

About an hour later, Elena came down the stairs and was genuinely surprised when she saw Caroline sitting in the parlor, "I didn't think you'd be up yet."

"To tell you the truth, Elena," Caroline said, watching her friend closely. "I was going to sneak out. Nik caught me and told me I should stay, at least long enough to say goodbye to my friends."

"Look, Caroline," Elena said, sitting beside her friend, "I'm really sorry about the whole founder's party thing. I had no idea that things would end like that."

"How do you know about it?"

"Stefan told me."

"Of course he did. Look, Elena, I'm okay. I'm used to people like Carol, and –"

"You might be used to it, but you shouldn't have to be. It's sad that most people you've had in your life have _made_ you used to it."

"It doesn't matter, Elena. It's done, it's over with. I just…I need to go home and go back to work."

"What happened between you and Damon last night?" Elena asked Caroline suddenly.

Caroline groaned, "We drank. Not a big deal. We drank and talked like we were friends. He didn't hit on me once all night."

"Do you want to be friends with Damon?" Elena asked her.

"I don't know, Elena," Caroline said wearily.

"You said that he didn't hit on you at all, and you said that you talked like you were friends, right? Besides, everyone can use more friends."

"Look, I know you're weary because of what has happened to you throughout your life. I get it. But not every guy out there is like that, I can promise you that. I mean, Stefan's a good guy, right? So is Klaus and his brothers. So because you know them, and they're good, doesn't that mean there could be more out there?"

-x-

Damon stumbled out of bed around two in the afternoon, walking down the stairs. He needed his coffee. He got to the kitchen, noticing that Stefan was at the table, eating breakfast. Damon poured his coffee and joined his brother at the table.

"Is Caroline here?"

Stefan shook his head, "No. She left around noon."

Damon rubbed a hand over his face, "Oh."

"What happened last night, Damon? I know about Caroline running out of the Lockwood mansion, and I know about you following her, but what happened after that?"

Damon shrugged, taking a drink of his coffee, "Not much. We drank and talked."

"Did you sleep with her?"

Damon shook his head, "No. I wanted to, but then she told me a little bit about her past. It helped me understand why she's so closed off."

"Tell her how you feel, Damon. I mean, seriously, it's better than you sitting here, thinking about her."

"How do you know I'm thinking about her?"

"I know you, Damon. I saw the way you looked at her last night, the way you defended her. You feel something for her."

"Caroline's different. She's got something special. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, but she's not like other girls."

"So ask her out, Damon."

"It's not like I want to date her, Stefan. Maybe invite her to dinner or something, get to know more about her. I don't even have her phone number."

"You could ask Elena."

"Yeah, right," Damon laughed bitterly. "What am I supposed to do? Go up to her and say 'Hey Elena, I know I've been an ass for the last few years but I really want to get at your friend?' That won't fly and you know it, Stefan."

Damon rubbed a hand over his face, got up, put his coffee cup in the sink and headed towards the door. Stefan watched his brother, "Where are you going?"

"Out," was Damon's reply, but Stefan knew his brother. Something told him where his brother was really going – to Richmond. This was a small victory, but he'd take any victory he could get.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I was going to post this, like, two weeks ago but I've been busy. My husband and I were really sick and I'm still helping out with my grandma and her knee replacement so I don't have a whole lot of time to write. I also wanted to say, I noticed that people are adding this story to their alerts, but for the last chapter, I only got 2 reviews. If you are reading, or adding to your alerts or favorites, please please **_**please**_** leave me a review. I want to hear both the good & the bad.**

Damon sat in the coffee shop across the street from Caroline's shop, staring out the window. From where he was sitting, he could see her shop perfectly, even though he wasn't sure what to do now.

He needed to know her. Caroline Forbes was an independent, successful, intriguing woman. As much as Damon had avoided women who wanted serious relationships in the past, he couldn't help his attraction to her. He wanted to know more about her. While he had told Stefan that he didn't want to date her, Damon wasn't so sure that was true. He wanted to know what made her tick. He had been over at her shop for ten minutes, pacing back and forth in front of the front door, but he lost his nerve and went across the street instead. He thought that maybe if he could compose his thoughts and figure out what he wanted to do next, then things would be better.

The problem was, he didn't know what to do next. With Rose and Andie, it had been easy. If he wanted to tell the truth, he would say that he didn't love them. Hell, half the time he didn't even like them. He was just tired of everybody bugging him to move on. It had been almost three years since Katherine when Stefan tried to set Damon up with Rose, and he just went along with it because it was just a means to an end. Rose had been a distraction; something to take his mind off of Katherine. It didn't help, though, and he had a hard time opening up to anyone since Katherine. Rose eventually got tired of Damon being so guarded and left. The story was the same with Andie – while it was actually Elena's aunt Jenna who had set them up, Damon still went along with it, and Andie ended up leaving because Damon was so guarded. It seemed like that was the story of his life. So, instead of trying another relationship, he just played the field. He couldn't open up to anyone, that much was obvious. It had only been a year and a half since things ended with Andie, but Damon just couldn't move on.

He hadn't wanted to get to know a girl in almost five years, but yet, Caroline was special. He could say it over and over again; he couldn't put his finger on what it was about her, but there was definitely something there. She was independent, and fierce. She definitely had a fire to her. He sighed heavily, taking a drink of coffee, and that's when he felt the tap on his shoulder.

"You're Damon Salvatore, yes?" The woman asked him. He could do nothing but nod.

"I'm Esther Mikaelson. Caroline's mother."

"Yeah," he answered, "she told me about you. Well, kinda."

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked, and Damon shrugged. Esther took that as a yes and took a sat across from him.

"So, Damon, Caroline told me what happened at the founder's party, and about driving her home. That was real sweet of you, and I want to thank you."

"I did. Caroline is a good friend of my brother and his friends, and besides that, everything that Carol was saying was bullshit."

"I'm having my children over for dinner tonight. Why don't you join us?"

"I don't want to impose, Esther. I mean, it's a family thing, and…"

"Nonsense," Esther replied. "We'd love to have you. We're having dinner at six o'clock and I won't take no for an answer. I want to get to know you, Damon."

"Well, I guess if you're not taking no for an answer, then I have no choice," Damon replied. He took down Esther's address and directions to her house before saying, "I've got to go home and change my clothes –"

"Nonsense," Esther replied, looking at him. "You look fine."

Damon shrugged, "Okay. I'll see you at six."

-x-

"I can't believe you, Mother! You invited Damon Salvatore to dinner? Seriously?"

"Niklaus, please don't yell at me. I'm doing this for Caroline." Esther was in her kitchen, working on dinner. She had lasagna in the oven and was working on an apple pie – that was Caroline's favorite. Klaus stood behind her, watching her.

"Do you not realize how bad of a decision this is? You know Damon's reputation, and –"

"Niklaus, not to excuse what he did, but it's just a reputation. You need to concentrate on the man, not the reputation. For all you know, that reputation could be untrue."

"I don't trust him, Mother. He is going to chew her up and spit her out, just like what Tyler Lockwood did to her."

"Caroline may have made a mistake by getting involved with Tyler, but she learned from it, right? What's Caroline always telling you?"

Klaus rolled his eyes, "She doesn't regret anything she's gone through. It's made her a stronger person, the person she is right now."

"That's right. She's always saying that every little thing she's ever gone through, good or bad, has shaped her into the person she is right now. Caroline is a very strong person. She can go at the world alone. But that is not what I want for her. I love Caroline like she's my own daughter, you know that. She's been in our lives for almost eight years, and I want what's best for her. I think that having Damon over for dinner, and getting to know him, will help Caroline."

"Do you realize that when Caroline left the Salvatores' house this morning, she was sneaking out? She didn't want Damon to find her there."

"Don't look at me like that, Niklaus. I'm doing this for Caroline. Now, did you get ahold of everybody?"

"Yes. They're all coming here for dinner. Everybody but Rebekah."

"I know she wouldn't be able to attend; she's in Europe somewhere with that new guy she's been seeing. I get postcards and emails from her from time to time." Esther watched Klaus for a moment, saying, "There's also something I want you to know. I will not tolerate you, or any one of your brothers, making Damon uncomfortable. You have been Caroline's protector for a long time, I get that. But she doesn't need that right now. You need to let her make her own decisions."

"Right," Klaus said sarcastically. "And you talking Damon into coming to dinner here is Caroline making her own choices?"

Esther shrugged, "My house. I get to make the rules."

-x-

"I was invited to have dinner with a friend tonight, but I started to think that maybe I should stay home and work," Damon said into the phone. He was talking to Matt, who managed The Grill for him. Part of him wanted to work tonight, while the other part wanted an excuse so he didn't have to go to dinner with Caroline. He was nervous; more nervous than he should have been. Not only was he having dinner with Caroline, but he was meeting her family. The old Damon Salvatore would've run away from that so fast, but, for some reason, he wasn't going to.

"No way, Damon. I've got this."

"Who is that on the phone?" Damon heard Elena in the background. When Matt told her that Damon was having dinner with a friend, Damon heard her squeal and then she started chattering like a nervous puppy, "Who's it with? Where are you going? Is it a date?" Finally, Matt put the phone down onto the table and put it on speakerphone.

"Where _are_ you going?" Matt asked him.

"I told you. I was invited to have dinner with a friend."

"Who?" Damon heard Elena ask, and he groaned.

"Look, Elena, I just called because I needed to know whether or not I was needed at The Grill. Now, not that it's any of your business, because it's _not_, but I'm just having dinner with a friend."

"You know me, Damon. I'm practically the little sister you never wanted. You should know me well enough by now to know that I'm going to pester you until you spill."

"You might as well tell her," Matt piped up. "She's not going to leave you alone until you do."

"I don't care, Elena. Pester me as much as you want. I'm not telling. Maybe, that's _maybe_, if the dinner goes well, I'll tell you later."

There was a moment of silence before Matt said, "Don't worry about The Grill. Go have dinner; I'll take care of everything, Boss."

Damon hung up and drove to Esther's house. When he got there, he saw that it was a beautiful house. She lived near the woods, and the backyard was huge. She had to have at least five or six acres of land. Damon cut the engine and got out of the car, going onto the front porch, getting ready to ring the doorbell, but he just couldn't do it. He paced back and forth on the porch until he heard the door open. He looked over and saw Caroline.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Your mother invited me for dinner. You didn't know?"

Caroline groaned and rolled her eyes, "No, she didn't tell me. It doesn't surprise me, though. When I told her about the founder's party fiasco, she wanted to know more about you." Caroline watched Damon carefully, "My mom can be…well, she can be a little overzealous. She wants me to get new friends. I know this; everybody in the family knows it. I'm sorry if she embarrassed you earlier."

"Not a problem," Damon answered, coming closer to Caroline. "I like her."

"Really?" she asked. He was getting awful close.

"Yeah," Damon said, slipping behind Caroline and going through the door. Caroline let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. She followed Damon inside and introduced him to her brothers.

"That's Finn, Kol, Elijah and Klaus," she said, pointing out each one.

"Hey, Elijah, your mom wants –" a voice came from around the corner, and Damon almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw her. It was Rose. Rose, as in his ex-girlfriend Rose. As she spotted him, she stopped.

"Damon, what are you doing here?" she asked. Everybody's glances went from Rose to Damon.

"Esther invited me. What are you doing here?"

"Elijah and I have been together for a couple of years. It's good to see you."

Breaking the silence, Elijah said, "Rosemarie, how do you know Damon?"

She snapped back to reality, "Um, I know his brother. We hung out a few times when I lived in Mystic Falls."

It wasn't long after that that Esther had called to her sons, telling them she was ready to serve dinner. She even made Damon and Caroline sit next to each other.

"Tell me more about yourself, Damon," Esther said after serving dinner.

"I, uh…honestly, there's not much to tell."

"Nonsense," Esther replied. "There's got to be something about you. You seem like a very interesting person."

Damon shrugged and figured if he focused on Esther, the death stares he was getting from Klaus and Kol would go away. He should've known better, as Caroline had told him that her brothers were overprotective of her. He filled Esther in on growing up in Mystic Falls, although he was born in Italy; he also told her that he had spent a great deal of time in that country after high school when he was trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He told her about buying The Mystic Grill and running it, also mentioning Carol Lockwood trying to put a ban on it.

"That Carol Lockwood is such a bitch," Klaus said through gritted teeth, ignoring the look he was getting from his mother. "She thinks she's better than everybody else."

"Except for her son," Damon added. "She may be the mayor because her husband died, but at least we have a good sheriff."

"Is it still Mason?" Caroline asked.

Damon nodded, "Yeah, Mason Lockwood."

Klaus looked at Damon quizzically, "You trust the safety of your town to a Lockwood?"

Damon shrugged, "If you met him, you'd like him. He's what we call the anti-Lockwood. He hates Carol, and isn't a very big fan of Tyler, either. He's actually locked Tyler up quite a few times, for public disturbances and drunkenness, that kind of thing." Damon glanced at Caroline, wondering if she was going to be uncomfortable at him mentioning her ex. She didn't look phased.

-x-

Damon sighed, standing on the porch of the Mikaelson house, and lit a cigarette. Now, normally he didn't smoke, but every once in a when he felt he needed it, he would. It was normally when he was pissed off, or frustrated, or really stressed. This time, though, it was because he wasn't sure what the hell to do, or even think.

"I thought you quit," a voice came from behind him. He let out a breath of air, it was just Rose.

"I did. But every once in a while I need it." He turned to look at her, "You lied to your family in there."

Rose shrugged, "Not thoroughly. I just didn't tell them the whole truth. Besides that, Elijah knows about you, and he doesn't care. He's like that; he won't say anything because we trust each other. However, I know Kol and Klaus. They wouldn't be able to let it go. And besides that, what would Caroline think? Would she want to get involved with a man who is exes with her sister-in-law?"

Damon looked at her quizzically.

"I can still read you like a book, Damon. Don't even try to deny it, either. You have a thing for Caroline."

Damon sighed and flicked his cigarette butt off the porch, "I don't know what I want. I don't know what I think. I want to know her. She's different from the other girls I've met."

"So, you're finally over Katherine."

Damon was silent for a moment, and Rose said, "Sorry. I…just…I know that Katherine was…you know what, never mind."

"I'm sorry, Rose," Damon said after a moment. "I'm sorry that I was so focused on Katherine that I fucked us up. I'm sorry that I couldn't move on."

Rose smiled, "I'm over it. I got over it a long time ago. But where it pertains to Caroline, Damon, I think you should be honest with her. I mean, tell her how you feel."

"I don't know what I feel."

"Tell her that. Be honest with her. And, for God's sake, don't hide things from her. That's how you lost me."

-x-

After Damon's talk with Rose, Damon was a little worried when he was approached by Klaus and Kol.

"I'm not going to threaten you, Damon," Klaus said to Damon. "I just want you to know that Caroline and I are close, and if you do anything to hurt her, I'll know. I want you to remember that."

Damon nodded, "Message received."

"He's not going to threaten you because he's scared of Mother and Caroline," Kol said from behind Klaus, and Damon looked at Klaus quizzically.

"That's not true," Klaus said, but after a moment he shrugged, "Okay, maybe it's a little true. You've never seen Caroline when she's angry. Anyway, Damon, I want you to know that Caroline and I are close, and everybody in the family is frustrated because after she broke up with Tyler, she quit trying. We want her to get back out there, even if it is with you." Klaus turned around and started to walk away.

"I figured you wouldn't trust a guy like me," Damon called after him. Klaus turned around and looked at him.

"I don't," Klaus said before turning back around and walking away.


	8. Author's Note

This is an author's note.

I know that it seems like I've been neglecting this story, and while I really do want to continue it, I've had the last few weeks from hell. I was having really bad writer's block, and then I was in the hospital with cellulitis and an abscessed tooth. Then a few days ago, my cat died, and since my husband had cancer/chemo 3 years ago, it's very unlikely that we will have children, and my pets are my babies. I've been having a hard time coping with my cat's death because I watched her die and she wasn't sick, it was just very sudden. I am going to update this story, I promise, but right now everything I write is total crap. Hopefully I will have something up soon, but I can't make any promises right now.


	9. Chapter 7

**A/N: Yes, I finally got a chapter done. I was worried that it would take me longer than it did. The next chapter is almost done, I'm just making last minute changes, so that should be up (hopefully, *crosses fingers*) in the next couple of days. **

**I also want to thank the few people who sent me PMs and really great thoughts through reviews. I really did appreciate it.**

"C'mon, Damon," Stefan said, following his brother through the boarding house, "we've gotta do this. Besides, the party is going to be here. You can't avoid it."

Damon sighed, turning around so he was looking at his brother, "You want to throw some stuffy party here, and you want me here because Dad left that company to both of us, _and_ you want me to bring a date? I hate these things."

"I know, Damon, but you know how these things are. They want to meet us, talk about the company, talk about their investments, things like that. It's something that goes along with the territory –"

"I really don't want to do this, brother," said Damon, getting very annoyed. "Why's it gotta be here?"

"We've got the room, Damon. These people are going to want to meet us. I mean, what better place to do it, huh? C'mon, it'll be easy; you just drink champagne, meet these people, and talk to them."

"You said I had to bring a date."

"Why not? What do you have against a date?"

"I don't have anyone to ask."

Stefan nodded slowly, "What happened to the Damon Salvatore who would bring a random girl to these things to just get laid? C'mon, we both know that when these things get boring, you used to sneak girls upstairs for –"

Damon clamped a hand over his brother's mouth, "I'm not that guy anymore."

Stefan smiled knowingly, "You went to dinner with a friend the other night, right? Why not ask her?"

"Elena told you."

"We think it's a good thing, Damon. You're dating again, by choice this time. Ask your _friend_ to come to this dinner. You never know what might happen."

-x-

Damon walked into Caroline's shop, looking around nervously. He really didn't want to run into Klaus again.

Caroline looked up from her work and smiled at him, realizing Damon's nervousness, "You don't have to worry. Nik is in New York for the week. He doesn't get back until next Monday."

"What made you think I was looking for your brother?"

"You have all the telltale signs, Damon. Nik has gotten to you. He makes you nervous."

Damon smiled, "Yeah, a little bit."

Damon came closer, "I came to see if you'll go to dinner with me tonight. Well, it's not really a dinner; it's more like a really stuffy, boring party full of rich snobs." Caroline just watched him, eyes wide.

Caroline made a face.

"I know that it's short notice and everything, but I would love nothing more than for you to accompany me."

"I don't know, Damon. I'm not really dating right now."

Damon shook his head, "Then we won't call it a date. More like two friends going to some stuffy party together, because, believe it or not, Caroline, I don't want to be there. But I have to be."

"Why?"

"My dad owned this company. I mean, he was a doctor, but started the Salvatore foundation to donate money to different things, different people who needed money for their investments. When he died, he left his foundation to both me and Stefan, and put a clause in his will that I can't sell my shares. I guess he thought that I needed some kind of responsibility or some shit like that. Anyways, I have to go to these parties every once in a while, meet these people who need money, talk about their projects, and, of course, talk to the current people who we're giving money to. It's not something that I like doing; hell, if I could avoid it, I would."

Caroline nodded.

"So, what do you think? I really would like you to accompany me, Caroline."

Caroline rubbed a hand over her face, "Gee, I don't know, Damon…"

"I'm not too proud to beg, Caroline," Damon said, earning a smile from Caroline.

"Fine," she finally agreed. "Just as friends, though."

Damon nodded, feeling somewhat accomplished, "The party is going to be at the boarding house. Get there around eight. Until then, Caroline," he said, turning around and exiting the shop.

-x-

"Damon asked me to accompany him to some stuffy party tonight," Caroline said into the phone. She was talking to Elena, and Elena was thrilled. Actually, she was ecstatic. She wanted nothing more than for Caroline to be happy, but she felt that Damon could give her so much.

"So, are you going to go?"

"I told him I would, but I was starting to change my mind –"

"Do yourself a favor, Care," Elena said, interrupting Caroline. "For once in your life, take a chance. You're so protected and guarded. I understand that, with what you've been through, you have to be. But sometimes, great things happen to those of us who take a chance."

"I can't, Elena," Caroline was practically whispering now. "I've been through hell. I've seen the world as it really is. It's a dark, cruel place and people just use you up and spit you out. I've seen that personally."

"Caroline, your view is biased. The world is not like that. There are good people out there. I mean, what about me? What about your brothers?"

"You guys are the exception."

"I know how much you hate stereotypes, Caroline. I know how much you hate it when people judge you before getting to know you. I know you hate it when people don't give you the chance you feel you deserve. Why are you doing it to other people?"

"I, uh…I have to." Caroline's voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I can't take the chance."

"Why not?"

"Look at what happened the last time I took a chance," Caroline practically whispered. Elena sighed.

"Caroline, Tyler Lockwood was a mistake. What happened between the two of you was not your fault. You cannot take what he did to mean that you deserved the way he treated you. Tyler took advantage of you. He saw a girl who was broken, someone who was vulnerable and wanted to be loved, and he took advantage of that. This is not your fault. You know that, right?"

Caroline was silent, so Elena continued, "Caroline, life is hard. You know that better than anybody else. But your brothers, they are good, right?" Caroline uttered something that Elena took as recognition, so she continued, "So why don't you give Damon a shot? He could be good, just like your brothers. I refuse to believe that the four Mikaelson brothers are the only good guys in the entire world."

Caroline was silent still, so Elena said, "Look, Caroline, I love you and I want to see you happy. You haven't been out with a single person since you ended things with Tyler, and that's been three years, almost four. You can't live your entire life like this."

"And how's that?"

"Caroline, don't get mad. I'm just stating a fact. You're very guarded. I think that going out with Damon tonight will do you some good. Do yourself a favor, okay? Just go out to this thing with him, spend some time with him, and see what happens. I don't know, Care, you might find out that you like him. That could always be a good thing."

There was a moment of silence before Elena said, "Caroline, you are not a bad person. You were just dealt a bad hand. You know, sometimes bad things just happen to good people."

-x-

"You lied to him," Elena told Stefan when she got off the phone with Caroline. "I can't believe you actually went through with it. Did he believe you?"

Stefan nodded and chuckled, "Yeah he did. It'll be good for him and Caroline. They obviously like each other."

"You don't know that."

"Well, I know that Damon likes her. You didn't see it, but when he defended her against Carol Lockwood, I could really tell."

"C'mon, Stefan, both you and I know that Damon stood up for Caroline because he and Carol Lockwood hate each other. He was just using that to put digs in at Carol; he'd use any reason to do it."

"Stop being like that, Elena. Our plan is working perfectly. There's something there. He thinks that Caroline is something special."

Elena made a face at Stefan, "Caroline _is_ special. She's a rare breed, you know. Caroline is a thousand times stronger than anybody I know. She's got a good game face, too, but deep down, Caroline is an insecure mess."

"You only know that because she tells you everything."

Elena shrugged, "I know absolutely everything Caroline's ever gone through, that's true. She's told me every aspect of her life and that's because I was there for her when nobody else was. You know, I was worried that she'd stop confiding in me when the Mikaelsons started to bond with her, but nothing changed."

"What has Caroline said about Damon?"

Elena shook her head, "Not much. She's too afraid to dive into anything right now. It's all because of what Tyler did to her. He really fucked with her mind."

"Not in a million years would I have pegged Caroline as someone who would hook up with Tyler. They're just not compatible."

"I feel bad for Caroline, Stefan. I really do. She's put her heart on the line twice now and every time she does, it's an utter disaster. Guys use her up and spit her out."

-x-

Caroline stood outside the Salvatore boarding house that night, pacing back and forth. She was ready to knock on the door, but every time she got up there, she lost her nerve. She had been pacing back and forth in front of that door for almost fifteen minutes when it opened, and Damon stepped outside.

"I've been watching you out the window," Damon said, watching her closely. "You've been pacing in front of this door for fifteen minutes. You go up to it, then your eyes get wide and you go back to where you started. What the hell are you doing?"

Caroline shrugged, "I can't go through with this, Damon. I'm not a party person. I'm going to be here, and I'll probably just end up in the corner by myself –"

"No, you won't. Since this is a Salvatore foundation party, Stefan will be here, and that means that Elena will be here. She won't let you curl up in a corner, if I know Elena."

Caroline shook her head, "I don't belong here, Damon. I'm not worth it."

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"You wanted to show up with me. Well, I don't know why, because I'm not worth it." Caroline sighed. "I don't belong here. I don't belong anywhere."

"Caroline, please, just come in with me. We'll talk, and maybe even dance?" Damon looked at her with a questioning glance. "This will be good for you."

Caroline rolled her eyes, but she grabbed Damon's arm as he escorted her into the boarding house. She looked around; the boarding house was full of people who just looked like they were snobs. Caroline sighed as she walked with Damon until they reached Stefan and Elena.

"You don't think that I could possibly skip this one, do you brother?" Damon asked Stefan, hoping that his brother wouldn't mind. But when Stefan gave Damon that brooding look, Damon sighed, "Never mind."

"Damon, we've got to do this together. We own the foundation, you know."

"I'll make a deal with you," Damon said. He realized he was bargaining, but damn it, he was desperate. "I'll stay down here for an hour, maybe two. Then I get to take Caroline elsewhere, somewhere where we can talk. You know, anywhere is better than here."

Stefan made a face, "Why does it matter?"

"I think you should take that deal, Stefan," Caroline said suddenly. "I know this isn't my foundation, and I know that I don't make the rules or anything, but if Damon has to stay at this boring party, he's going to make a lousy impression. People will think that you guys don't take your work seriously, and you don't want that with something as big as this foundation."

Stefan made a face before saying, "Wow, that actually makes sense."

Damon watched Caroline, eyes wide.

Caroline leaned up to Damon's ear and whispered, "You can thank me later."

Elena just stood beside Stefan and watched Damon and Caroline. Oh yes, they were definitely getting somewhere.


	10. Chapter 8

**A/N: I've had the last two weeks from hell. First my cat that I've had for almost six years died. Then, I finished this chapter and then my computer crashed, and it deleted it, so I had to re-write it. And then, my computer shut down when I forgot to save, so I lost it AGAIN. With my other cat, who've I'd only had for about a week, dying, I just had to take a small break, but I'm back now, and, hopefully, better than ever. There is some serious stuff down at the bottom of the chapter, talking about both Damon's past and Caroline's. Please be good – read & review! **

"I could not wait to get away from that God awful party," Damon said, opening the front door of the Grill and waiting for Caroline to go through it. "Seriously, it gets worse every time."

Caroline took a seat across from Damon in a booth while he signaled Matt over. He ordered some French fries and a beer, then, looking at Caroline as she said, "I don't know, Damon, it wasn't that bad."

"Speaking of," he started, looking into her eyes, "When you were talking to Stefan, how did you learn to talk business like that? It was fucking brilliant."

Caroline smiled, "I own my own business, Damon. I may just be a dressmaker, but I've had to do my share of PR. You should learn how, it'd make you a better businessman." Caroline saw Damon's face fall, so she added, "Not that you're a bad one. It's just that…since you and your brother own that foundation, you should know how to talk to people."

"That foundation was my dad's. I had no interest in it at all. If that clause wasn't in his will, I wouldn't be doing this at all." Damon paused to take a drink of his beer, "I could sell my shares, but it's got to be approved by Stefan, which, it's not."

"I'm sure that you could get around that if you really wanted to."

Damon shrugged, "I'm going to be completely honest with you, Caroline. Stefan and I, our relationship has been kind of strained over the last few years, and we're finally on good terms. I love my brother, I really do, and with us owning this foundation and running it together, I don't want to screw up what progress we've made. I want to be friends with my brother again."

"So what happened?" Caroline asked, taking a few French fries off Damon's plate. She noticed Damon's quizzical look, so she continued, "Something had to have happened between the two of you to fuck up your relationship in the first place. What was it?"

Damon made a face and watched Caroline very carefully, "That's a long discussion for a different time."

Caroline nodded and said, "You should be happy. You're part of some kind of family heritage. I have nothing. I'm not a part of anything."

"Look at me, Caroline," Damon ordered softly and her eyes met his. "You're part of the Mikaelsons. They love you very much."

"It's not the same. My real family, my _blood _family, they're all dead."

Damon pushed away the urge to cup her face, "Caroline, blood doesn't always equal family. I bet if you asked Elena, she'd tell you the same thing."

"Why bring Elena into this?"

"Because she was adopted. She's not blood related to her parents, to Jenna, to Jeremy. That doesn't change the way that Jenna and Jeremy feel about her, does it?"

"No, but Miranda and Grayson Gilbert were actually allowed to adopt her."

Damon noticed that Caroline's gaze was fixed on the table in front of her, so he said, "Caroline, look at me." Her eyes raised and once again she was looking into his eyes, "Esther Mikaelson is your mother. Klaus, Kol, Finn and Elijah are your brothers. They don't need a piece of paper to know that you belong with them – it's fate. Esther was told she couldn't adopt you, but she's kept you around, she chose you. And the way that Klaus defends and protects you? I doubt he'd do that to just anybody off the street. You're special, Caroline, and they all know it."

"You think I'm special?"

Damon nodded, "Yes, I absolutely do."

Caroline blushed, "Damon, just because you compliment me and flatter me doesn't mean I'll fall into bed with you."

Damon nodded, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

-x-

Sitting in the coffee shop across the street from Caroline's shop, Damon just watched out the window. It had been a couple of weeks since their "date" at the Salvatore foundation party, and she was in his thoughts – all the time. It wasn't just a once in a while thing, either. She practically lived up there. He couldn't get rid of her. He wanted to ask her out, and had come all this way to Richmond for that very purpose. But when Damon tried to go into that damn shop to ask her out, he lost his nerve and wandered over to the coffee shop. Now he was sitting across the street, drinking some crap cappuccino and watching her shop like some stalker.

Damon was so enthralled with what he was doing that he didn't hear Esther come up and take the chair beside him until she spoke, "Lost your nerve, huh?"

Damon jumped a little, but then looked at her quizzically.

"I raised four boys, Damon. You like Caroline. I can tell; hell, it's written all over your face. So, when are you going to go over there and ask her out?"

Damon just shrugged.

"I'm going to help you out a little," Esther said, taking a slip of paper out of her purse and wrote something down on it. She handed it to Damon, "This is Caroline's number. You should give her a call."

Esther got up to leave, but Damon looked at her, "Do you think she'd ever go out with me? Like, a real date?"

Esther sat back down, sat her coffee cup on the table, and looked at Damon, "I'm going to give you some advice. When we first got Caroline, she was a mess. She was fifteen, and she hadn't really been accepted anywhere. She wouldn't look you in the eye, and she would definitely not spend any time alone with my sons. She was scared of them. She was afraid to take a chance – any kind of a chance. We were persistent, though, and eventually, she came around."

"What made her like that in the first place?"

"Damon, every family that Caroline had ever been with, they mistreated her. They were only nice to her when they wanted something, and after they got it, her name was lower than mud. She's been abused and hurt. But it isn't my place to tell you all about it. That's Caroline's."

"If Caroline went through all that," Damon said, thinking out loud, "Then there's no way in hell she's going to give me the time of day."

"I love Caroline like she's my own daughter. I cannot imagine my life without her in it. My advice to you is to be persistent. Ask her out. And even if she says no, keep trying. Show her how you feel."

-x-

"You don't understand what I'm saying, Nik," Caroline said into the phone. "I can't ask Damon Salvatore out on a date."

"Why not?"

"Because."

Klaus laughed, "Caroline, you know that's not a real reason."

Caroline rubbed a hand over her face, "What does it matter to you, anyway? You hate Damon."

"I don't hate him," Klaus defended, but Caroline cleared her throat and he laughed, "Okay, so I dislike him very much. But you know what? It's just a date. You don't even have to start a relationship with him, just ask him to dinner or something. Caroline, it's been almost four years since you broke up with Tyler and I think you need to get back out there and see what the world has to offer you."

Caroline sighed, "I like him, Nik. I mean really _really_ like him, and I can't do that."

"You're afraid of falling in love again, Caroline. I get it, I really do. But you can't go through your life afraid."

"Look at everything I've been through, Nik. I have every right in the entire freaking world to be afraid. There are people out there who just…" her voice trailed off and she shuddered. "They use you up and spit you out and don't give a damn about what you want, or what you need, or even who you are. Remember the son of my first foster parents?" Caroline heard Klaus groan, so she knew that he was well aware of what she was talking about. "He used me up and spit me out, and then made it out to be my fault. He manipulated me like no one ever has before or since." She sighed deeply, "He proved to me that there is no such thing as a good guy."

"Well, that hurts my feelings."

"Nik, I love you and your family. You guys accepted me when nobody else did. You guys are the one good thing to come out of the system for me, and I love you all like you were my real family. But, with everything I've ever been through, I've gotta be getting punished for _something_."

"There is no one in the entire world, not even the biggest rapist or murderer, that should be punished as much as you have. Now, go to Damon and ask him out. A date wouldn't kill you."

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Be careful, Nik. You're starting to sound like Elena."

"I knew I liked that girl," Klaus laughed. "Go, Caroline. It'll be good for you."

"Now you _really_ sound like Elena."

-x-

"You sure he's not here?" Caroline asked Matt for what seemed like the hundredth time. She had driven to Mystic Falls as fast as she could, and it was all because of Klaus and Elena. Caroline thought she was going crazy; why the hell would she drive almost two hours away to ask out _some guy_? It didn't make sense; Caroline would've never done that before, not _ever_.

Matt laughed, "No, Caroline, he's not here. Just because I work for Damon doesn't mean I know where he is every second of the day."

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Look, Matt, I don't even have his phone number and –" it was at that second that her phone started to ring. She gave Matt a dirty look for laughing and put it up to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey, Caroline, it's Damon."

"Damon, where are you right now?"

"In Richmond."

Caroline rolled her eyes, "And I'm here, at the Grill, looking for you. What are you doing there?"

"I was going to go and see you, but I kind of got sidetracked."

"I want to talk to you in person, Damon. How long would it take for you to get here?"

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I assume you'll be waiting for him here, then?" Matt asked Caroline when she hung up. She looked at him, "You know, eavesdropping is not very nice."

"You have a very expressive face, Caroline. It's easy to read what's going on with you."

Caroline stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed and said, "Since you're waiting, do you want me to get you something to eat?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll take a cheeseburger, please."

While she sat there and waited, Caroline's mind thought back to her past. Her past relationships had just been sad. She had a pretty pathetic dating history, so why would Damon even want to go on a date with her? The way she was treated in the foster home before Esther took her in, they really did a number on her and made her feel hideous. Nothing she did was ever right, and apparently she was not dating material, either.

Matt brought out her burger and said, "Do you want some company?"

Caroline shrugged, "Sure, I guess."

"So when are you and Damon going to stop dancing around the facts and just go out already?" Matt asked as he slipped into the seat across from her.

Caroline watched him carefully, "Excuse me?"

Matt shrugged, "It's none of my business, Care, but there's obviously a spark between you and Damon, and if you haven't noticed it, then you're more oblivious than I thought. He likes you, Caroline. Damon hasn't acted this way around a girl in years."

"Yeah, right," Caroline said, taking a bite of her burger. When she swallowed, she finished, "He probably just wants to get me into bed."

"Caroline, if all Damon wanted to do was get you into bed, he would've done it already," Matt said. He watched her carefully before adding, "I'm not saying anything bad about your character, it's just…Damon has had a fling with almost every girl in town. Everybody except for Bonnie and Elena."

"Even Jenna?" Caroline asked, mentioning Elena's aunt who had practically raised Elena and Jeremy since they were teenagers. Matt nodded.

"For a long time, Damon wasn't looking for a serious relationship. He just wanted flings, and every girl in town wanted him. For Damon, it was a win/win situation."

"Are you telling me not to ask him out?"

"No, it's not what I'm telling you. Caroline, I understand you've been hurt in the past, but Damon's not going to hurt you. He knows what the word 'no' means and he respects that. He's a good guy."

Caroline shook her head, "No, there's no such thing as a good guy."

"What about your brothers?"

"Do you know Nik?" Caroline asked him, but then realized, "Oh yeah, you were at the founder's party fiasco. Well, Nik is a good guy. So are his brothers, Matt, but they are the exception."

"Caroline, give him a chance," Matt said, watching the front door. He noticed that Damon had just walked in so he said, "Good luck," and he went back to the bar.

"I didn't expect to see you here for another hour or so," Caroline said to Damon, looking at her watch. Damon nodded and took a seat across from her.

"I made good time."

Caroline gave him a knowing look, "You drove like hell to get here, didn't you?"

Damon grinned, "A little."

Caroline avoided Damon's gaze and said, "Listen, Damon, I'm not good at this because I've never actually been on one, but would you go on a date with me?"

"Caroline, I would love to go on a date with you. But tell me, you've never been on a date?"

Caroline shook her head, "No."

Damon's eyes got wide. "Never? As in never ever?"

"Look," Caroline said, looking at him, "I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I just…well, I was with Tyler, but he never took me anywhere he didn't have to, and before him, my dating life was pretty much nonexistent."

"You never went anywhere alone with Tyler? Not even to the movies, or a museum, a picnic in the park?" Caroline was shaking her head, so Damon said, "What about dinner? No? Not even once?"

Caroline shook her head, "No, Damon, I didn't. Look, Tyler was a no-account douchebag, okay? He kept me around for one thing and, at the time, I thought I deserved it. I thought I deserved someone like him."

"Nobody deserves some asshole who doesn't even take them on one goddamn date," Damon half muttered, but Caroline frowned.

"Look," Damon said, tilting Caroline's chin so she would look him in the eyes, "That wasn't toward you. You've must've been through some heavy shit to honestly believe you deserved that. Nobody deserves that."

"Look, Damon," Caroline said, pushing his hand away from her face, "Let's not go into the whole Caroline's only been with douchebags discussion. I've got Elena and Nik for that. They're telling me that I need to move on from the past. I agree with them, but my dating history is just…pathetic."

Damon made a mental note just then to make sure that this was the _best fucking date_ of Caroline's life.

"How about I come pick you up tomorrow night? What do you say to about six? Can you get your work done by then?"

"Yeah, I can," Caroline said, smiling. "That sounds good."

-x-

It was around twelve-thirty when Elena answered her phone the next day, "What's up, Caroline?"

"Look, Elena, my date with Damon is in four and a half hours, and I need you to come over and help me get ready. This is my first actual date, so I don't know what to do, or what to wear, how to do my makeup –"

"Caroline, breathe," Elena said. "Everything is going to be okay. I'll be there in a couple of hours. It'll be okay."

Elena pushed end on her cell and looked at Stefan, "I've got to go to Richmond. Caroline needs me."

"What's so important?"

"She's going on a date tonight. _With Damon_," she added.

"Yeah, so?"

"This is what we wanted, Stefan. We wanted to get Damon out of the funk that he was in – and it worked. Caroline's crazy about him."

"How do you know that?"

"Because, Stefan, she's really nervous about going out tonight. She needs me over there. I need to be there for her. This is her first date."

"First date…as in _very first_?"

Elena nodded, "Yes. She's got a bad history and no guy has ever wanted to take her out before. That's why she needs me." She grabbed her car keys and her purse, giving Stefan a peck on the lips, "I'll be home later."

Elena got to Caroline's house in an hour and a half. She let herself inside, petted Caroline's dog, Lizzy, and started up the stairs. She went into Caroline's bedroom, where she was inside her closet, looking for a dress to wear.

"I'm here," Elena announced. Caroline turned around.

"I'm glad. Now you can help me figure out what the hell to wear."

"Move," Elena commanded, and Caroline got out of the way. She held up two dresses; one was deep purple and had flowers on it, and the other was light green and satin. "What do you think?"

"I'd rather wear the green one."

"Why?"

"Because it's never been worn before. I only made it about two months ago."

"Put it on," Elena said, tossing Caroline the dress. Caroline started to take her jeans off when Elena said, "So, you nervous about tonight?"

"I am. I mean, I really really _really_ am. I don't think I've ever been this nervous about anything before in my life."

"Did you call Esther?"

Caroline pulled the dress over her head, "Huh?"

"Well, whenever a girl usually goes on a first date, they call their mother and let her know that they are going, to get advice or whatever. That's what I did."

"You were also fifteen years old, Elena."

"That doesn't matter." She looked at Caroline, "That color really suits you. Let's look through your shoes to see what you've got." Elena squatted down in Caroline's closet to look at her shoes and laughed, "You keep your shoes in a box?"

Caroline shrugged, "Well, I don't have a whole lot of a selection to get some fancy rack or anything. I've got a pair of black heels – black goes with everything."

Elena's eyes widened, "It so does not."

Elena picked up a pair of white strappy stilettos, "You wear these?"

Caroline shrugged, "Once or twice."

"Look, Caroline," Elena said, handing her the shoes, "I think you should know that Damon has kind of a reputation, and –"

"You don't have to say anymore, Elena. I talked to Matt at the Grill yesterday, and he kind of told me about that."

"Does it change your mind about tonight?"

Caroline shook her head, "No. I still want to go out with him." She fastened the shoes and then stood up, "What do you think?"

"I think you look good. C'mon, let's do your hair and makeup."

As Elena curled Caroline's hair and helped her put her make-up on, she chatted with her. They weren't talking about anything exactly; Elena was trying her hardest to get Caroline's mind off of how nervous she was. After her hair was curled, Elena helped her clip it up and then led her over to the mirror, "Well?"

"Wow," Caroline said. She took a deep breath, "I think I'm ready."

-x-

Damon pulled up to Caroline's house precisely at six o'clock. He figured that she was probably nervous, but he could take bets on how much more nervous he was. Now, Damon had never been nervous on a first date – no, he was always the smooth talker who knew what he wanted and how to get it – but this time it was different. He really liked Caroline and wanted more with her; he wanted a relationship with her.

God, a relationship. He hadn't wanted one of those since Katherine broke his heart six years ago. The bitch had stayed in his thoughts for a long time, and now that he was over her – which he had Caroline to thank – he had time to realize how badly he wanted one with Caroline. She wasn't just any girl. Because she was so special, he was pulling out all the tricks – flowers, candy, nice restaurant, a moonlit walk on the beach – because he wanted Caroline to know that she deserved romance just as much as anybody else.

He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Caroline thought she deserved to be treated the way that dickhead Lockwood treated her. Her life must've been pretty bad to feel like she deserved that, and that made Damon angry. Even when he was just sleeping with different girls, he would never ever treat them like they were property. Whoever made Caroline feel the way she did really twisted reality and made her feel worthless.

Damon got up to the front door and rang the bell. He was expecting Caroline to answer, but Elena opened the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Caroline is my very best friend in the entire world and I was helping her get ready for her very first date." Elena may have said more than that, but Damon wasn't listening to her anymore. He watched as Caroline came down the stairs. She looked just like a princess. The dress, and the shoes, and her hair – she looked perfect.

"I'm going, now," Elena announced, getting Damon's attention once more. "I'm going to see if Stefan wants to catch a movie or something." She looked at Caroline, "Call me after your date."

Once Elena was gone, Damon handed Caroline a bouquet of flowers. Caroline almost melted when she saw them. They were tulips, her very favorite flower in the entire world.

"How did you know?" She asked him, taking the flowers and breathing them in. She went to the kitchen and put them in a vase with water as Damon followed her.

"Your mother. I called her last night."

"How did you get her number?" A confused look covered her face, "For that matter, how did you get mine?"

Damon laughed, "I ran into your mother at the coffee shop yesterday."

Smiling, Caroline rolled her eyes, "It figures. Well, you cheated."

Damon shrugged, "I'd cheat again, just to see that look on your face."

Caroline blushed, but started out the door, "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

He escorted her to his car and then he got into the driver's seat. They drove for about ten minutes until they reached a very fancy restaurant.

"God, Damon, this can't be it. It takes months to get into this place, and the food costs a fortune."

"This is it, Caroline. This is where I'm taking you. I've got connections with the owner, I got us a reservation, and besides that, I can afford their food. It's not a big deal."

"I wasn't saying that you couldn't afford it, Damon. It's just that…well, I'm not that special."

Damon looked into her eyes, "Tonight, don't think. Ignore those standards that everybody set for you while you were in the system. This is different. I _want_ to pamper you this way."

Caroline nodded, "I'll try."

They went inside, and were led to the best table in the house, which just happened to be on the patio, overlooking the beach. Caroline swooned; it was just so romantic. When they were seated, they had some light talk. Caroline was surprised that Damon didn't really talk about himself; he wanted to know more about her. He asked her questions, and listened carefully to her answers. Caroline talked about her life as a dressmaker and the wedding dress from hell.

"I just finished it," she said after their dinner arrived. "I call it the wedding dress from hell, because, honestly, it is. There is so much beadwork, which takes forever. I never imagined doing this much beadwork on a dress that I wasn't going to wear."

"I noticed that you make practically everything you wear," Damon observed. "It reminds me of the girl in the movie Enchanted."

Caroline giggled, "You watch Disney movies? Really?"

Damon shrugged, "I only know that because Elena made me watch it with her. If it had been anyone else, I would have told them to fuck off, but it was Elena, and she's practically a part of my family."

"Yeah," Caroline said thoughtfully. "Mine, too."

-x-

After dinner, Damon took Caroline to the beach, which was literally only a few feet away, and the first thing Caroline did was take off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the sand.

"Sorry," Caroline said, slipping the shoes off and held them in her hand, "I don't believe anyone should wear shoes unless they absolutely have to."

"You like being barefoot?"

Caroline giggled, "Yes, I do. I refuse to wear shoes unless it's absolutely necessary. When I get married, I'm getting married barefoot."

Damon laughed as they started to walk. All of the sudden, Damon got really serious and looked at her, "So, the other day I heard Elena say that you've been in love twice. I know one of them was dick – I mean, Tyler Lockwood. Who was the other?

Caroline hesitated for a moment, so Damon said, "How about this? I'll tell you something about me if you tell me something about you. We can share."

Caroline shrugged, "I guess that's fair. You go first."

Damon thought for a moment, "There was this girl. Her name was Katherine, and she was pretty, and fierce, and had real fire to her. She was independent of practically everybody and when she wanted something, she went for it. Sometimes she was really in your face about things, but that just added to her charm. I loved her. I really did, and I could've spent my entire life loving her, but instead, she thought it'd be more fun to play me against my brother. She thought that she could have us both. I was so stupid, I fell for it, and I started to blame Stefan, when, in truth, it was all Katherine. She was a manipulative bitch and she left my heart in pieces."

Caroline nodded, "I'm sorry, Damon."

He shrugged, "It happened almost six years ago. I'm getting over it. So, now it's your turn."

"His name was Mike Jones." She sighed. "He was the son of my first foster family. He was nineteen when I was fourteen. I didn't mean to fall in love with him, it just kind of…well, it just kind of happened. We started out as fuck buddies. That's all that it was, and he made it very clear that's all he wanted, and I was okay with that. I was so naïve, so very stupid. It went on for about a year and half, until I thought I was pregnant." She started to stare into space, "I remember his words when I told him. He said, 'Do whatever you want. Kill it, put it up for adoption, keep it, I don't fucking care. But you can never tell anybody it's mine."

Damon clenched up his fists; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't want to show too much emotion, though, since it was their first date and he didn't want to come on too strong.

"I was so sure, but I was wrong. Anyway, my foster parents found out about it and they turned against me. I had to come clean, especially since the bastard gave me an STD." A worried look came over her face as she looked at Damon, "Don't worry, it was curable. I'm clean now. I get tested every year, just to make sure. But anyway, he denied everything and made me out to look like a lying whore. I was so stupid, so naïve, and I thought that he cared about me, so I lied about stuff, changing my story so he didn't look guilty. I did it to protect him. By the end of my time with that family, they had taken practically everything away from me, beat me, and made me hate myself. They made me out to be a slut, even telling me that I deserved that STD. If I could go back, I'd turn the son of a bitch in, first thing, but I loved him. I don't know why, I thought that I loved him. Now, as I'm older and wiser, I wonder if I really did, or if I just thought I did, but anyways, I was convinced that he loved me back. It turns out that he's still victimizing young girls, just like he did me."

They stopped walking and Damon turned to look at her, "You feel guilty."

"Yes," she whispered, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. "I do."

He brought his hand up and wiped away her tears, "It's not your fault, Caroline. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't make him hurt you, and you didn't make him hurt those other girls, did you?"

She shook her head.

"That stuff they said, that was all bullshit. I know they probably beat it into you, but listen to me," he said, his hand still cupping her face. She looked at him, "You were the child. He was the adult. He should've acted like the goddamn adult instead of fucking with your head the way that he did. And as far as that family goes, the way they treated you was wrong. You were the child, you were the victim. It's not your fault."

"Nik and Elena have been trying to tell me that for the last eight years. Just because they say it doesn't make it true."

"Have you ever wondered, Caroline, if maybe you're the one that's wrong?" Damon asked gently. Caroline looked up into his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that Klaus and Elena seem to be pretty smart. Hell, I've known Elena her entire life. But if they both think the same thing, then –"

Caroline sighed, "Maybe they're just biased."

"I don't think they are," Damon said, watching her carefully. "The more people that say that something is true, then the more likely it is."


	11. Chapter 9

**A/N: I feel like I should say something about not updating in a while. I just want to say that this story is based on some things that have really happened, and there are parts of it that are pretty hard to write for me. I started writing this story the way that it is because I felt that it would be therapeutic, facing demons and all that stuff. I also want to thank everybody who's reviewed, and then I want to say, I get a lot of favorites and alerts but not as many reviews, so if you take time to read this story, please leave me a review. It gives me inspiration to write faster.**

"So, how was this first date?" Damon asked Caroline, cutting the engine so he could talk to her. They were in her driveway, and part of Caroline just did not want this night to end.

"Different," Caroline said, not wanting to seem over-anxious. "This date was definitely different from anything I've ever imagined."

"So, that's good?"

"Yes, definitely good. I want to see you again, Damon."

"Great," Damon said, secretly relieved. "How about I give you a call in a few days and we can go on another date?"

Caroline nodded, "That would be wonderful."

They said their goodbyes and Caroline got out of the car and went into her house.

As Caroline watched Damon drive away that night out the window, a million thoughts flooded her head. Why the hell did she get so emotional with him? That was not normal. She had never gotten that emotional with anyone who wasn't family. The only men she had ever allowed herself to get emotional with were her brothers. Ever since Caroline was about fourteen, she had relied on her gut feeling – it was almost a sixth sense now, it helped her make decisions. If something felt wrong, then it probably was. But being with Damon, even spilling her guts to him, it felt so…right. It felt so damn right. She used to know Stefan and Damon Salvatore, but that was before her parents' accident, before she was catapulted into another world. This was different, though. Not only was Damon her first date, he was the first guy, outside of her friends, she felt peaceful around. It was almost like they belonged together, and –

_Stop right there,_ she told herself. This was all new territory to her, and she needed to talk to someone. She picked up the phone and called the first person she thought of.

Twenty minutes later, Rose came through her front door. Caroline hugged her and then said, "Where's Elijah?"

"We were in town, visiting your mother. We're staying the night there. I told them that you wanted to talk, and that I'd be back later." Rose followed Caroline into the living room and sat down on the couch, "So, what is so important that you couldn't talk to Elena about it?"

"Well, you see, Rose, I could've called Elena. Hell, I could've called Nik. But, I needed some fresh eyes on my predicament. Nik told me on the phone yesterday what he thought, and I spent a great deal of time with Elena today, so I know what she thinks. I need someone new."

"Well, I know you're a big fan on following your gut, Care. How's that going?"

Caroline smiled, "He feels amazing. I mean, the vibe I get from Damon is just…it's so peaceful. Like, it feels right. It feels so damn right, Rose, and it's scary. I can't handle that."

"Why don't you take it slow for a while? Go on a few more dates with him, and –"

"Rose," Caroline said, grabbing Rose's hand, "I cried in front of him. I actually fucking cried." Caroline ran a hand over her face, "I am so thoroughly fucked."

"Did he make you cry?"

Caroline shook her head, "No, he didn't. He asked me a question about my past and so we kind of shared with each other about past…things. He told me about his first love, and….well, I told him about mine."

Rose was silent.

"Look, it was probably a real lapse in judgment, but he asked me about falling in love with two douchebags, and –"

"How did he know?"

Caroline shrugged, "He overheard Elena. It's not a big deal. You know my policy, Rose; you ask, I answer. There is hardly a question I will not answer honestly."

"So answer me this then, Caroline; do you like Damon?"

"Yes. God, yes. I really do. He's intelligent, honest, and his love for his brother is just amazing. I've always been drawn to the king of guy who is very family-oriented, and he's got a real love for his brother, and for Elena, and –"

"Damon is a good guy, Caroline. And he likes you."

"How do you know?"

Rose sighed, "I was friends with his brother, Stefan. He had invited me over to the boarding house for dinner a few times –"

"You're lying to me," Caroline said bluntly, cutting Rose off. "I know that you're not telling me the truth."

"How do you know that?"

"Your body language. I've gotten pretty good at being able to tell when someone is lying to me."

"Okay," Rose said, sighing, "So, Damon and I used to be together."

Caroline raised an eyebrow, "As in together _together?_ As a couple?"

Rose nodded, "We used to be a couple. It was right after Katherine broke his heart. I used to be friends with Stefan, that much is very true. Stefan and Elena hooked me up with Damon. But Damon was suffering from heartbreak, and he just kept me around for a distraction. He really wanted to be with Katherine, and for a while, I didn't mind. But he had too many issues, too much baggage, and he kept everything inside – he refused to talk about it." Rose watched Caroline very carefully before adding, "I have no ill will towards Damon, I promise. He really is a good guy, he just wasn't ready for commitment, especially after Katherine mind fucked him. She messed with his head. And since, he'd been really – well, I don't exactly know the right word for this, maybe _selective_ is a good one – of who he opens himself up to. But he chose you, Caroline. He _wants_ a relationship with you. Especially if he told you about Katherine – he _did_ tell you about Katherine, didn't he?"

"You mean the manipulative bitch that took his heart, broke it into little pieces, and then stomped all over them?" Caroline asked. Rose nodded, so Caroline said, "Yes. He mentioned her."

"Well it looks like he wants a relationship with you, Caroline. He hasn't wanted a relationship with anyone in a long time, and no offense, but if he only wanted to get you into bed, he'd have done it already."

"Wait – does Elijah know?"

Rose nodded, "He knew that I was with a Damon, and when Damon showed up at your mother's house that night, he put two and two together. He doesn't care, though; at most, he just wants to make sure that Damon will be good to you. Elijah and I don't have secrets from each other."

Caroline sighed, "What the hell do I do now?"

"Well, sweetie, what is your gut telling you?"

Caroline made a face before saying, "It's telling me that I need to see him again. God, Rose! I need to see Damon again. He makes me…well, he makes me feel."

"Look, Sweetie," Rose started, "I love the fact that you've found a good guy after the bullshit you've been through. It makes me happy, and when Esther finds out, she'll be fucking ecstatic. But you need to ease into this."

Caroline gave her a quizzical look.

"You need to make sure that anything you do with Damon is what _you_ want. Don't do anything that will make you uncomfortable just because it's what he wants. I doubt he'd ever push you into anything, but just…don't get over-anxious."

"I'm scared, Rose," Caroline said suddenly, in almost a whisper. "I really am."

"Caroline, you've been in real life and death situations. You've been beaten almost to the brink of death, you've been emotionally scarred and you've been sexually assaulted. But yet, you picked yourself back up and moved on with your life. Why are you getting all scared over a guy?"

"I can't be hurt again, Rose. I just can't."

"Follow your gut, Care. You know, that feeling that has saved your life numerous times? It won't steer you wrong."

Caroline laughed, "For a second, I thought you were going to tell me to follow my heart."

"Hell no. It's not that I have a problem with people who follow their heart, but Caroline, with you, you need to follow your gut because your heart could contain so many emotions that you think you're doing the right thing when you're not. Go with your gut. It's never steered you wrong before."

-x-

Caroline sat in her dress shop the next day, staring out the window. Caroline was half daydreaming and half paying attention to the real world. She couldn't help herself from thinking about her date last night and what Rose had told her afterward. Her mind was screaming at her to end things with Damon before they even began. She was scared. Admitting that to Rose last night was a big step for Caroline, because she didn't like it when people could see inside her head. One of the very first things she ever learned in foster care was the fact that you don't let anybody know what you're thinking, or what you're feeling. Once they could get inside your head, they could use everything to their advantage. She had that done to her one time too many.

The sound of the bell over her door snapped her back into reality, and she looked as Elena came over and sat down beside her, "You're not answering your phone."

"Did you call?"

"What's wrong with you?" Elena asked gently. "Normally, you would notice that I've called five times."

Caroline grabbed her cell phone, which confirmed that, yes, Elena had called five times. Caroline looked at her best friend apologetically, "I'm sorry. I've just been thinking."

"About your date last night?"

Caroline shrugged, "About everything."

"You didn't call me after your date last night, Caroline. I don't know if I should be relieved or offended."

"I called - "

"Rose. I know."

"How did you know?"

"Well, I called Esther today because I couldn't get a hold of you, and…"

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Mother told you."

"You should be happy, Caroline. Esther was ecstatic that you talked to Rose about it, and, honestly, so is Rose. Apparently, you've never really let her into your life, and –"

"Rose and Elijah have been together for three years, Elena. I still don't know her that well."

Nodding, Elena looked at her, "So? What'd you tell her?"

"I like him, Elena." Caroline sighed, shaking her head. "I can't like him."

Elena watched her friend carefully, "Because of your past? Because of Mike Jones, because of Tyler Lockwood?" Elena's gaze softened as she watched Caroline nod slightly; it wouldn't have been apparent to anybody but Elena. She learned a long time ago that it wasn't _what_ Caroline said anymore, it was the _way_ she said it.

"First of all, Caroline, that Mike Jones, he's off the table. That was almost ten years ago, Care, and if he could see you now, he'd be happy. Do you know why?"

"Because he was a sadistic son of a bitch who enjoyed inflicting pain?"

Elena nodded, "Not all pain is physical, Caroline, which you know very well. He's been inflicting you with pain for the last ten years. He's always there, in the back of your mind, and don't tell me he's not. I know he is. He makes you second guess yourself. But guess what? If that bastard could see you right now, he'd be happy. In fact, he'd be more than happy. He'd be ecstatic. Because, even though it's been almost ten years, he's still in your head like he used to be. You need to move on, to live your life. That would piss him off, you know."

"I'm afraid, Elena."

Elena nodded, "I know you are. But I know something else."

"What is that?"

"Damon makes you feel something. Something special. Something you've never felt before."

Caroline couldn't help herself but blush and nod.

A smile erupted on Elena's face, "Give Damon a chance, Care. He likes you, and, well, he just needs a chance. He's as scarred as you are, but in a different way."

"I know. Katherine."

"Yes, Katherine. She hurt him real bad. But I know you wouldn't do that. So why don't you pick up your phone and call Damon, and ask him for a date?" Elena's eyes widened, "Ooh, I have an idea!" She said suddenly. "How about you come to Mystic Falls this weekend? Today's Friday, and I know you don't work on weekends or Mondays, so you can spend the next few days at the boarding house. Sounds like fun, yes?"

Caroline shrugged, "I don't know, Elena. I'd have to call Damon and –"

"No, don't call him! That would ruin the surprise."

Caroline made a face as she thought it over, finally saying, "You know what, I'm in."

-x-

When they got to the boarding house, Caroline went upstairs to Damon's room. She entered, seeing Damon lying on his bed, reading a book.

"_Treasure Island_? Really?" Caroline asked, laughing.

"What's wrong with it? This book is a classic," Damon answered, going back to his book. A minute later, he looked up, "Caroline?" he put the book down. "What are you doing here?"

"You know, when Elena puts her mind to something, she can be pretty damn determined."

"She asked you to come over, didn't she?"

"Yes. As a surprise."

Damon felt almost giddy as he answered, "Well, it's the best surprise I've gotten in a very long time."

Caroline smiled, but Damon saw the look on her face. It was almost a look of…horror?

"What's the matter?"

Caroline sighed, going over to his bed and sitting on the edge, "Look, Damon, I value your friendship."

"But?" he prompted.

"But, what if this, whatever we have, doesn't work? I like you a lot, and the date went very well, but, I just…" her voice trailed off. "I know what I want to say, honestly, it's just not coming out right."

"You're a realist," Damon said after a moment. "You want to know what is going to happen if we don't work out romantically. And I guess I'd tell you that, if we didn't work out romantically, that I'd really want to be your friend."

"Is that even possible?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've never been able to be friends with my ex. So, have you ever broken up with somebody and be able to remain friends with them?"

"No offense," Damon started, watching Caroline closely, "but all your exes are extreme douchebags."

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, I know. They really are. But answer my question."

"I am not the same person I used to be," Damon said carefully. "You have to remember that. But there was one."

"Was it Rose?" Caroline asked bluntly. Damon just watched her, shocked.

"She told me about you guys. I called her up last night after you dropped me off at my house and I wanted some advice. She couldn't give me advice without telling me, because I can read people. When she said she knew things about you just because she was friends with Stefan, it didn't make sense."

"Are you angry?" he asked, almost afraid of what her response would be.

"What? That you used to date my sister-in-law?" She shook her head, "No, I'm not. It would've been nice if you told me, though."

"Honestly, I didn't know that Rose was part of your family until I showed up for dinner that one night. I was honestly surprised to see her there. I mean, what are the odds that the woman I used to date is now your sister-in-law? I wasn't expecting to see her there, but I thought that if you knew, you wouldn't want anything to do with me." He paused for a moment, watching her closely, "What did she say?"

"She bears no ill will towards you, Damon. And I believe her."

"Please don't tell Klaus," Damon asked, and Caroline burst out laughing.

"What?" he asked her.

"I'm sorry, Damon, it's just the way you said that. Are you afraid of Nik?"

"And his sidekick Kol," Damon added.

"Okay, firstly, Kol is not Nik's sidekick. He's just always looking to make trouble. It just seems that when Nik dislikes somebody, Kol's always with him, trying to stir up trouble. Secondly, Nik will end up knowing. Gossip runs through this family, like, fast. Mother loves to talk about her children and she loves to talk with Rose. And thirdly, if you are going to be afraid of any of my brothers, it's not Nik you should be worried about. It's Elijah."

"The guy married to Rose?"

Caroline nodded slowly, "Yes. He may not look it, but Elijah is the worst one to have pissed at you."

"And that's because…" Damon prompted.

"It's because Elijah is the calmest, he has the most level head. He doesn't lose his temper very often, and he's quiet."

"That should worry me?" Damon asked.

Caroline laughed to herself, "Damon, you ever hear 'it's the quiet ones you need to watch out for'?" she asked, and Damon nodded. "Well, whoever said it had to have met Elijah."

-x-

"I need to talk to you."

Caroline looked up from her book the next day to see Elena standing in front of her. She sounded kind of urgent, so Caroline nodded.

"Look, I've been trying to find a tactful way to bring this up. After what happened at the founder's party, Bonnie's been trying to get me to ask someone else, but you'd be the best option…" Elena was rambling. Caroline knew that whenever Elena rambled, she was about to ask someone a favor and she thought that they'd say no.

"Elena, spit it out already," Caroline said, sighing. Whatever it was that Elena wanted, she might as well just get it over with.

"Well, I'm head of the Miss Mystic Falls competition this year. It was something that my mother did every year, and then Jenna, but Jenna is out of state with Alaric, and –"

"Elena!" Caroline felt her patience wearing thin. "Just get it out."

"Will you do the dresses this year?"

Caroline sat there for a moment, not sure what to say. Getting asked to make the dresses for the contestants was a big deal, and Caroline knew that if she did them, it'd be great press for her business. Caroline sighed before answering, "Seriously? You want me to do the dresses?"

Elena nodded, "Yes. The competition isn't for another couple of months, so it'd give you time – enough, I hope."

"Where's the catch?"

"The catch?"

Caroline nodded, "You were rambling, Elena. You only do that when you're nervous, so you know something that would make me turn you down. What is it?"

"The competition takes place at the Lockwood mansion."

Caroline nodded slowly, chewing her thoughts over in her head. She wanted to say no, but Elena was her best friend and she was asking her a favor - after everything Elena had gone through for her, Caroline figured she could do this one thing for Elena. Besides, it really would be great press for her business.

"Yeah, okay, I'll do it. Besides, I know how to be civil."

Elena nodded, "Yeah, you do. I'm not sure that Carol does, however."


	12. Chapter 10

**A/N: Okay, so it's been a long time. I'm sorry it's been so long. I just haven't been that into TVD lately, so I haven't been able to write it. Mix that with my massive writer's block I've had and that's my reason for not updating. I've got the next chapter almost written, so that should be up *hopefully* in the next week or so. My beta is going through finals right now, so I have to wait for a time where he can beta for me. **

**As always, please remember to read & review!**

Caroline and Damon went out the next night. He took her to the most exclusive restaurant in town, and they had a wonderful dinner. She had scoffed a little at how ridiculously priced some things were, but he assured her that he had the money for it. There were things that Damon wanted to point out to her, like how he loved the fact that she worried about spending too much of his money, but he didn't dare say it. He wanted her to feel more comfortable around him.

The night after that was Sunday, and Caroline and Damon were cuddled up in front of the fireplace in the parlor. Damon loved the feeling of his arms around her; it felt like that was the way it was meant to be. He felt calmer around her. He felt like she was it. He could never have a single date with another person in the entire world and be happy with it.

Without warning, Caroline turned in his arms and looked at him, "Damon, there's something that I need to ask."

Damon nodded, waiting for Caroline to go on.

"What are we? I mean, what am I to you? I know we've only been on two official dates, but I feel…well, I feel some kind of connection with you that I've never felt with anybody else before."

Damon nodded, "Me, too, Caroline. I feel the same way."

"I'm really bad at this whole relationship thing, because I've only been in one real one and that was with Tyler, but Damon – would you be my boyfriend?"

Damon nodded, and Caroline turned all the way around in his lap as Damon's lips met hers. The kiss was soft, almost gentle, and inviting. Caroline reached up to run her fingers through his hair as he slipped his hands around her waist. As the kiss got more intense, Caroline broke it off.

"We should move this upstairs, don't you think?" she asked, and Damon looked at her seriously, "Only if it's what you want," he replied.

Without answering, Caroline leapt into Damon's arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and kissed him with everything she had. It was an exploration of Damon, she wanted to know every part of him intimately. Damon walked them up to his bedroom as Caroline attacked his mouth with hers. Once they got there, he let her down and Caroline smiled slyly at him. She started towards him, but he shook his head.

"Before we do this, Caroline, know that this will change our relationship," Damon started, watching her closely. "I want to make sure that you want to do this, because you've been pushed into sex before and I don't want to push you. I want you to be as willing as I am."

Caroline nodded, "I haven't wanted something in a long time like I want this."

"You dated Tyler Lockwood, therefore you probably slept with him. Unlike Tyler, if anything makes you uncomfortable, I want you to tell me. I refuse to push you into anything, but I know that Tyler does that with every girl he's with."

Caroline nodded as she reached for Damon's belt. He smacked her hand away.

"What the hell?"

"Because your virginity was stolen from you, and because you were pushed into having sex by Tyler, I'm looking at this as your first time, and I want it to be special for you. You deserve that much." Damon laid Caroline down on the bed, hovered over her, looked in her eyes and kissed her softly. He tongue explored her mouth as they kissed slowly, sensually. When he broke the kiss, she looked at him in the eyes and said, "I've never been kissed that way before."

Damon smirked; this was going to be a night of firsts.

He undressed her slowly, taking his time, kissing the skin as it was exposed. Pretty soon, she was naked on his bed. Damon smirked and looked down at her, "Has anybody ever told you how beautiful you really are, Caroline?"

"Damon, this is making me feel uncomfortable," Caroline said in almost a whisper. "I don't know what to do here."

Damon leaned down, kissed Caroline's neck and then put his attention to her breasts. He bit and sucked lightly on a nipple and then the other. He looked up at her, "Just enjoy it, Caroline. You deserve it."

Damon kissed his way down her body until he got to her hipbone, and then started to spread her legs apart. Caroline's got really wide when she knew what he was going to do, and she snapped her legs closed.

"No," she said, looking at him. "I've never – I mean, nobody's ever – and you really don't have to."

"Nobody's ever gone down on you before?" he asked her. She shook her head, and he said, "Lay back, baby. I want to do this for you. I bet you taste sweet."

Damon kissed his way up her thighs, but then stopped. He saw scars on her thigh, like she had been attacked. "Caroline, what are these?" he asked her.

Caroline started to blush, "Nothing. They're nothing."

"They don't look like nothing. Did somebody hurt you?"

Caroline bolted up and looked at Damon, "I, uh, I've gotta go. Really, I, uh… I'll just…I'll talk to you later, Damon." Throwing on her clothes as fast as she could, she ran out of Damon's room, out of the boarding house, and drove away. She left Damon sitting there, utterly confused at what just happened.

-x-

"What happened?" Elena asked Caroline the next day. Elena had come to Richmond to check up on Caroline, mainly because Damon told her what happened and how Caroline bolted out of his room the night before. Elena sat at the kitchen table while Caroline did the dishes.

"Nothing happened."

"Damon told me how you went running out of the boarding house. Talk to me, Care. You can tell me anything, you know that."

"He saw them, Elena," Caroline said in almost a whisper. "He saw my scars."

Elena raised an eyebrow and nodded, "You had to have known that he'd see them eventually."

"I forget they're there sometimes. When I'm really into something, I don't even think twice about them. But he saw them, and I wouldn't have bolted out of there, except for the fact that he asked what they were. When he finds out about it, he's going to get rid of me."

"Caroline, Damon knew you were broken from the system. He knew that when he asked you on that first date. He cares about you. People who care about other people, they don't just get rid of them."

"But what about –"

"The Joneses are douchebags. They have hurt countless girls. I mean, who does what he did and pin you against a wall, a hand over your throat, and says, I love you? That's not how you show someone that you love them. Not at all." Elena was talking about Caroline's first foster father. She had screamed at him that nobody loved her, and he had pinned her up against a wall – actually pinned her there, with a hand around her throat, and said that he loved her. Caroline shuddered at the memory – that man had been scary, almost scarier than his son.

"I've got too much baggage," Caroline said, drying her hands on a towel. She was trying to get that memory out of her head. She draped the towel over the open cupboard, "Everybody lets me know."

"Who's everybody?"

"Well, there was Tyler…" her voice faded off. Elena nodded.

"I know what you're going to say," Elena said. "Tyler knew you were broken. He knew you had too much baggage. But you know what? Damon's not like that. He's never dumped a girl because she had too much baggage."

"But I bet he's never dated a girl who was as broken as me, either."

"You are a good girl, Caroline. You're sweet, and honest, and you try to see the best in people. But your best quality is your independence and your fire. You have picked yourself back up off the cement too many times to count. Those scars that you have, they show the person you used to be, and the person you are now. You don't cover them up because they stand for a part of your life that you beat, a part of your life that you survived. You should be proud that you survived all that bullshit. You have been to hell and back and you are still standing. That's got to count for something."

-x-

Caroline paced back and forth in front of the Salvatore boarding house the next day, going up to the door, as to knock, but then getting cold feet and starting to leave. This cycle happened for about twenty minutes when the door flung open and she saw Damon standing there.

"Damon, hi," Caroline said softly. She stood a few feet away from him, body hunched over, the feeling of guilt weighing her down. "We ought to…well, we should talk about the other night –"

"Caroline, I really like you," Damon said, coming closer. However, the more steps he took towards her, the more steps she took backwards. Finally, he stopped and said, "I understand that you have a lot that has happened in your life, and I don't want to push you, but maybe we should have a talk about it. Did I do something?"

Caroline's eyes widened as she shook her head vehemently, "No, absolutely not. It wasn't you."

"Do you want to come in?"

Caroline looked around nervously before nodding her head, "Sure."

She followed Damon into the parlor. He stopped for a moment, "Do you want a drink?"

Caroline shook her head, "No, thanks."

He came over and sat across from her. He wanted to sit next to her, but he noticed how she was shying away from him at the front door, and he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. Caroline took a deep breath before watching him intently.

"Look, Damon, before I say anything, I need you to promise me something."

Damon made a face, "What is it?"

"I need you to promise that, when you leave me, you won't tell anybody it's because of this."

Damon reached out to grab her hand, but she withdrew from his touch.

"I'm not going to leave you, Caroline," he said in a firm voice. "I highly doubt that there's anything you could tell me that would make me want to leave you."

Caroline took a deep breath, "Okay. I have a few scars. They're on my upper thighs, like the ones you saw. They're self-inflicted."

Damon nodded silently.

"I used to be a cutter. For a long time, I was numb. I didn't feel anything. I would walk around, like a zombie, because I couldn't feel a damned thing emotionally. I was getting beaten, day in and out, and if I didn't cover up the bruises, I would get beaten some more. I got very good at hiding the bruises. They _enjoyed_ inflicting pain. I was always the punching bag. Whenever Mike wanted to show off for someone, he'd punch me, or push me around. He was twice my size and weighed at least two times as much as I did, and he could push me around easily. He said he was punching me because I needed to learn how to defend myself, but it was so much more than that."

Caroline was starting to zone out, but she continued talking, "Damon, I was miserable. But when I started to cut, it felt so good, emotionally, because I was feeling _something_. I put it in places that people wouldn't think to look, because when you're in foster care, people keep an eye on the visible skin, just to make sure you're not self-mutilating. They would've sent me to a psychiatric hospital in no time, and, at that point I was afraid of them. You see so much shit about them in movies, it just scared me. But then, I had had enough of them beating me and so I tried to end my own life. I slit my wrists here –" she showed him the scars on the underside of her wrists " –and they found me and sent me to the psychiatric hospital. After that, I went to some rehab for cutting. I was in rehabilitation, I stayed there for four months, and they showed me other ways to vent frustration, other ways to feel. After my time at St. V's – it's called St. Vincent's Home for Children, they help minors who aren't stable – the Joneses decided that they didn't want me around anymore. And then, when the Mike thing happened, and me cutting myself, they couldn't handle me. I was too much of a handful. Me!" The tears were there, she couldn't stop them, and they started to roll down her cheeks. Caroline sighed before saying, "St. V's was the very best thing that could've ever happened to me, because after I left there, I met the Mikaelsons."

Finding his voice, Damon said, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Caroline."

"Look," Caroline said, tears still spilling from her eyes, "I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I despise it when people feel sorry for me. I survived, didn't I?" she asked, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand. "I'm a survivor."

Damon moved over to he was sitting next to her and he leaned her so that she was putting her head on his shoulder, "Caroline I'm not going to leave you. That stuff you went through, it makes me angry. They got away with it, and that pisses me off. The state pays them to take in children who have no one else, and this is what they do with it?"

"Look, Damon," Caroline said, tears threatening to spill once more, "I'm not sorry I went through all that. At all. I'm a stronger person now because of it. If they hadn't inflicted me with so much pain, I wouldn't be the strong, independent, fierce woman that everybody knows. It's made me a stronger person. I feel like I could do absolutely anything, like I could get through any kind of situation."

"Did you ever try running away?" Damon asked suddenly. Caroline nodded.

"Yes. Every fucking time I could. They always sent Mike out after me."

"_Little Caroline!" Caroline heard Mike's deep voice as she was ducking through the woods, trying to get away. She ran faster than he did, but he wasn't afraid of anything. No matter where she went, he could always find her. They were literally in the middle of nowhere. The closest place was a motel – a small, family owned one – and she knew the kids of the family. She would go over there and they would give her something warm to eat and some fresh clothes to put on. But today, things were not going as planned. As Caroline ran through the words, she tripped over a tree branch and fell flat on her face. She was mere minutes away from being caught, so she decided to double time it and ran faster than she could. Out of nowhere, she tripped again, and that's when she heard his voice, "Boo."_

"_Mike, just let me go," Caroline pleaded as he grabbed her arm. "Please. I can go away and your family has nothing to do with me, ever again. Just please, let me go." She was desperate, and begging, which she knew he liked, but he just shook his head._

_He added pressure and twisted her arm behind her back, "I can't do that, LC," he said, twisting with even more force than necessary. "My family will lose a lot if you ran away."_

"_Let go of me, please?" Caroline cried, tears springing to her eyes, but he kept twisting until she heard a sickening crack, followed by blinding pain. Her arm was broke. He had a sadistic smile on his face as he said, "With a broken arm, my parents are going to want to know where you are every minute of every fucking day."_

"Who's LC?" Damon asked, after hearing Caroline's story.

"I am. It stood for Little Caroline. I was eleven when they took me in, and Mike took to calling me Little Caroline. As I got older, he shortened it to LC."

"He broke your arm? On purpose?"

Caroline nodded, "Yes, he did. He kind of lost control that time. All that he had usually done was leave bruises, but that time, he just couldn't help himself…" her voice faded off. She shook the thoughts out of her head.

"Why didn't you tell anybody?"

Caroline shrugged, "I did, at first. I only made that mistake once. My case worker launched an investigation, but my foster parents had excellent poker faces. Whenever Janette would come around, they would act like loving parents, and Mike would act like the concerned brother. But, in reality, Mike was a sadistic bastard, only concerned with getting his rocks off. That's all I was good for."

"But what about the bruises? Nobody noticed them?"

Caroline sighed, "I told them that I was clumsy. I was clumsy, fell down stairs, ran into doors, slipped and fell on the kitchen floor…" Caroline sighed again. "You know, people will believe damn near anything."

Damon tilted Caroline's chin up so that she was looking into his eyes, and he said, "Caroline you are so much better than what they've made you out to be. You're smart, beautiful, independent, very successful." Damon brushes a strand of her golden hair away from her face, "You're so much better than those people. You've made a name for yourself, and you have so much more than you ever did. And let me tell you something right now, Caroline Forbes. You are a strong woman and I'm glad to call you my girlfriend. I'm proud of you, for defeating everything you've ever been through and continuing to live with your life. And you are better for way more than just sex."

"We haven't even made it that far," Caroline commented.

Damon nodded, "But don't underestimate my patience. Believe me, I can wait."


	13. Chapter 11

**I've rewritten this chapter about five different times, and was not happy with them, but I've decided I cannot obsess over it anymore. Please read and review.**

**Also, Merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate it.**

"I've got to go, Damon," Caroline said, almost exasperated. Damon had been following her around for almost an hour, trying to get her to stay another night. "I've got to open up shop tomorrow morning at eight am. I don't want to have to get up at five to get there in time."

"Then let me come stay with you," Damon said. "I want to spend more time with you, and I think that it'd be a nice break for me. I've been working to damn hard, anyways."

"Damon, you don't have a bartender."

Caroline was pretty sure that she saw a pout forming on his lips, "You're right. I don't."

"If I can interrupt," a voice said behind them, "I can tend bar pretty damn well."

Caroline turned around to see Kol Mikaelson. She smiled, "What the hell are you doing here, Kol?"

"That's a nice way to greet your favorite brother," Kol said with a smirk.

Caroline laughed, "No, seriously, what are you doing here?"

He shrugged, "I had some free time, so I came to see you. I haven't seen you in a few days."

"Got fired again, huh?" Caroline asked sympathetically.

"You act like I get fired every other week. I just haven't found my calling yet," he said, looking at Caroline, then Damon. "But it sounds like you have a problem, and I'd like to help."

"Can you tend bar?" Damon asked. Kol nodded.

"Let me show you what I can do," Kol said, jumping behind the bar.

For a good part of the next hour, Damon was drilling Kol on how to mix drinks and so forth, to see what he could do. A few customers even came in and Damon let Kol tend to them. Caroline sat at a table across from the bar and watched Damon drill her brother.

"You know, my brother just saved you," Caroline said to Damon once he was sitting beside her.

He nodded, "Yeah, I know. So, how about you let me come stay with you? I don't have an obligation to be here to tend the bar."

"Honestly, I'm surprised that Kol's never been a bartender before. He's been mixing drinks since he was legal." Caroline was dodging, and she knew it. This was the second time Damon had asked if he could come stay with her, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to share her space with him. She liked the fact that she didn't have to share her space with anybody, and, even though she and Damon hadn't technically been together for very long, she felt some kind of connection with him. She liked him. It was comfortable to be around him, but she kept telling herself that that was how every relationship started. She was worried about what would happen after he got to her house.

She had every right to be worried – or, at least, that's what she told herself. The abuse with Tyler didn't start until they had moved in together. When they were in a "dating" phase – which, honestly, didn't even deserve the word, because he had never taken her one single date – he was sweet, and kind, and opened doors for her and everything that a gentleman would do. It wasn't until they got more comfortable, seeing her space and staying with her, that he started to show his douchebag side.

"I noticed when you asked him if he got fired, you said _again_. Is there something I should know?" Caroline was honestly glad when Damon seemed to take the lead with what she just said. Yes, she could talk about Kol's failure at jobs better than she could talk about her own emotions.

"Kol's a good guy, and a good worker, Damon. The thing is, he's had a few jobs that just weren't his speed."

"Like?"

"Like the bakery delivery boy, the construction worker, the florist delivery boy, and the fast food joint worker, just to name a few. He's always wanted a long term job, but he just hasn't found his calling. But I think this bartending just might be it."

"So, how about it?" Damon asked Caroline after a moment. "How about I come stay with you?"

Caroline hesitated for a moment. She was pretty sure her eyes widened as well, and prayed that Damon didn't see it. The most baffling part of this scenario, however, was the fact that she actually was thinking about letting him. She was actually thinking about telling him yes. Her head screamed at her, _He can't come over! That's when all hell will break loose! _But no matter how loudly her head screamed, her heart just wasn't listening. Finally, Caroline nodded, "Sure. That would be nice."

-x-

Caroline stood outside her house with Damon, unlocking her door, when Damon said, "How many locks do you have here, Caroline?"

Caroline shrugged, "About four."

"Why so many? I mean, what are you afraid of?"

"It's not that I'm afraid of anything, per se, it's more like, safety is underrated. I sleep much better with all these locks on my door." She opened the door after unlocking it, and Damon stepped inside. He hadn't even stepped inside fully when Caroline's dog, Lizzie, came running towards him. She practically knocked him over, but he caught himself before he fell. Lizzie sniffed him, and he turned to Caroline, "You have a dog."

Caroline nodded, "Yes. I've had her for a while."

"She's a fucking big dog," Damon commented. "German shepherd, yes?"

Caroline nodded.

"I hope you feel safe, with all those locks and that big dog to protect you," Damon said.

"That's kind of the idea," Caroline said. For a moment, Damon wanted to ask Caroline why she had all these locks and this great big dog, what was she afraid of? He wanted to ask her, but this was his first time being at her house, and he didn't want Caroline to feel uncomfortable. He didn't want her to feel like bringing him home was a mistake.

After a few minutes, Lizzie went over to Caroline and Damon took the time to look around her living room. It was a nice, spacious living room, but the thing that grabbed Damon's attention was the pictures. She probably had at least twenty something pictures around the room. Elena was also in most of them. The one that grabbed Damon's attention the most, however, had the Mikaelsons, Elena, and Caroline in it, and she couldn't have been older than seventeen. She looked happy. There was a sparkle in her eyes, something that seemed to have died since then. She had her arm around Elena, and they looked like they giggling. She looked so carefree. There were also quite a few pictures of Caroline with Klaus, as well. Damon was almost jealous of Klaus in that moment; he knew a side of Caroline that Damon might never know.

That night, Damon cooked her dinner. Caroline had food in her house – in fact, she had enough food to survive the apocalypse. Damon was surprised at how much food she had.

"It's because I grew up not knowing where my next meal was coming from, Damon," she had explained. "I went days without food, sometimes having to steal my next meal. Ever since, I need the security of knowing I have enough food. It's my security blanket."

Damon made her something special – spaghetti. As they ate, they talked.

"Tell me about your family," Damon said, and Caroline watched him for a moment.

"I don't know," she responded slowly. "They're family. You've met them."

"Tell me about how you fit in."

"Huh?"

"I mean, how did you become one of them?"

Caroline sighed, "It took time. And when I say time, I mean a lot of it. I'd been hurt by everyone, and I literally had no one. My only living blood family, my Grandma Forbes, she died a few months before my parents' accident, so there was nowhere for me to go. And when I went to the Mikaelsons, I hated them. I hated them because I couldn't afford to like them."

"Why not?"

Caroline debated the answer to this question in her head for a moment. Honesty was always her policy. Ask her a question, and she would answer it as honestly as she could. She figured her past was her past, it happened, and she didn't care about talking about it. After chewing it over in her head, she finally decided to give an answer, "I went through a phase where I hated everyone because I was afraid to like them. If anybody got too close to me, I'd push them away. I'd say awful things, be violent, I'd even block the whole world out. I knew I had myself, I could take care of myself, but what if these people left me? What if they died? Or worse, what if they just decided that they hated me, and just disappeared?" This was the most vulnerable Damon had ever seen her, and he felt for her. He couldn't imagine what she went through, or how she felt. However, Caroline was leaving something out. The phase that she was talking about was still going on. She was afraid to let anyone, besides the Mikaelsons or Elena, get too close. She sighed before saying, "The only exception, though, was Elena. It's always been Elena."

"What about when you were away at school?"

"She'd come up and visit me, you know," Caroline said with a smile, and Damon realized that this was the only he had ever seen Caroline smile at a memory from college. "She'd come up, and I'd get her a hotel room for the weekend. Tyler always forbade her to spend the weekend with us. I think it's because he didn't want her to know he used to hit me, but she knew. Elena always knew. She was different than most people, though. Most people, my brothers included, would have told me that I didn't deserve to be treated that way, and that I needed to move on with my life, but I know me, and at that point of my life, I would have just rolled my eyes. But Elena waited until I was ready. She saw me get hurt, she waited until she thought I was ready, and then she gave me the courage I needed to end things with him. If it wasn't for Elena Gilbert, I'd probably still be with that jackass, broken and bruised."

"Was she the only contact you had from your old life?" Damon asked her softly.

Caroline nodded, "Yes. Elena watched after me. My first foster family made me cut ties with everybody from my old life, but Elena and I would email each other secretly. She knew everything that was happening – everything with Mike, everything with his parents, even me getting put into rehab. She even came to visit me a couple of times. When I got put into the Mikaelson house, I don't know how she knew, but the very next day, she called me to make sure I was okay. That very weekend, she came up to see me and meet my mother and brothers."

"But I thought that Klaus didn't meet her until later?"

"He didn't. He was at the VA hospital. He had gotten wounded in Iraq and had shrapnel in his leg – they weren't even sure if he'd be able to walk again. So everybody else met Elena, but Nik did not. He knew of her, though. When he got better, he went back into the service, and was away when I was with Tyler."

"He doesn't know about how Tyler treated you?"

"That's not it," Caroline said, chewing over her words carefully. "By the time Nik got back, I had broken up with Tyler. I had these days where I could barely pull myself out of bed in the morning, and I was staying at Mother's, along with Nik. He's always known me so well, so he knew something was up. He eventually cornered me and asked – well, more like _demanded_ – that I spill my guts. So I did."

"So, who knew Tyler was an abusive douchebag?"

"Elena."

"Yeah, I gathered that. I mean, who else?"

Caroline shook her head, "Elena. That's it. I still get mad at myself. After surviving everything that I went through in my adolescence, I put up with it until I was twenty-one years old. I have been through a lot and have all this strength, but when it mattered the most, I lost my nerve. I stayed with Tyler for almost four years. Elena knows absolutely everything about me – she knows my past, she knows my secrets, she knows everything I've ever gone through."

-x-

After dinner that night, Caroline told Damon that she had to go work on her sketches. Damon looked at her quizzically.

"I'm doing the dresses for Miss Mystic Falls this year," she explained. "Elena asked me to."

Damon was kind of wary, "I don't know, Caroline. After the founder's party, aren't you afraid of another run in with Carol?"

Caroline shook her head, "It doesn't worry me. Elena asked me to do this, and, after the hundreds of things she's done for me, I figured I could do this one thing for her. Besides, I can be civil."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure Carol can," Damon said, following Caroline up the stairs.

"I lost my nerve at my last run in with Carol, Damon," Caroline explained. "Usually, I'm not like that, but it's the first time seeing her since I broke up with Tyler, and it was just an inconvenient time." She turned into her sewing room, flipping the light on, "I really do appreciate you saying something to her for me, though, Damon. That was very gentlemanly."

Damon shrugged, "She was saying bullshit. She needed to be put in her place."

Caroline reached into a drawer in her sewing machine table and grabbed an oversized sketchpad. She grabbed a pencil out of the holder on the table that was in there and sat down to start her work.

"You can sit if you want," Caroline said, patting the chair next to hers. "Or, you can go downstairs and watch TV, whatever. I usually put on music," Caroline motioned to the iPod dock that was on the table.

Damon sat beside her.

"Listen, Damon, I want to know something," Caroline started, opening up her sketchpad and getting to work.

Damon nodded, "Sure."

"What is it about me? I mean, there's something you like, right? What is it?"

Damon picked up a tool from the table and started to fiddle with it as he replied, "You're refreshing, Caroline. You're independent, but not too much; just enough. I've seen both types; I've been with girls who are so independent that they don't need me around except to look good, and I've been with girls who are so dependent on me to take care of them. You're the middle ground, and you're perfect."

Caroline reached over and took the tool out of Damon's hand, "Don't play with that, it's sharp. It's what I use to cut material, other than scissors. It's easier to cut straight lines with this."

Damon shrugged, "It looks like a pizza cutter to me."

"Was one of those girls Katherine?" Caroline asked, getting back on subject, and then immediately felt guilty for asking.

Damon nodded slowly, "Yes. The overly independent one was Katherine. She was independent to a fault. She didn't need me; she didn't need anybody. Made me feel out of my place sometimes, but I loved her so much that I didn't care."

There was a moment of silence before Caroline added, "I'm sorry I asked you about her. I just wondered…" her voice trailed off.

"Don't apologize, Caroline. Much like you have a past, I do too. Katherine was my past. But I'm here, with you, because I choose to be. I want to know you. I want to know what makes you happy, what you do when you're angry, what makes you depressed, and how to fix it. I want to know your greatest hopes, and fears, and everything that makes you tick. I want to experience it firsthand. I want to be with you, Caroline, and don't think of getting rid of me. I'm going to be here whenever you need me, and I'm not leaving anytime soon."

Caroline smiled, "You know, Esther Mikaelson said the same thing to me about ten years ago."


	14. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm leaving today to go to my in-laws' for a while, so this will be the last update for a little while. I won't have access to the internet.**

**A/N 2: There is smut at the end of this chapter, and I'm really nervous about the way I've written it, so reviews would be awesome for me.**

Caroline hated to leave Damon and go to work the next day, but she had to. She had called her mother to come in so she could show her the sketches for Miss Mystic Falls. Esther finally came in around ten, and Caroline practically jumped when she saw her. She was happy her mother was here; not just because she was here to help her with the Miss Mystic Falls dresses, but because she could take her mind off of Damon.

God, Caroline wasn't sure what to do about Damon. She had wanted a relationship with him, but it was different. She was used to being in her nice, safe shell, and this was outside her comfort zone. After all, it was called a comfort zone for a reason. Caroline cursed inwardly at even agreeing to be Damon's girlfriend. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to do such a thing. She didn't distrust Damon, per se, but he was a man, and as far as she knew, men were all the same.

Caroline knew what Elena would tell her. In fact, she could even hear Elena's voice in her head. _You can't judge every man you meet on Tyler and Mike. They were awful people, they used up people and spit them out. They saw you, a girl broken by the system, and they used it to their advantage. _In fact, Elena had told her these things on more than once occasion.

Esther came into her office and interrupted her thoughts. When Caroline got out the sketches, Esther got excited and they spent the next several hours talking about the dresses. Caroline told her mother that she was going to go to Mystic Falls next week to start the measuring for the dresses.

"Is there anything else going on, Caroline?" Esther asked, and all of a sudden, Caroline was suspicious.

"Why would you ask that? Have you been talking to Kol?"

Esther shook her head, "No. Why? Is there something I should know?"

Caroline sighed; she got herself into this. She looked at her mother, "No, not at all." Caroline could tell by her mother's face that she suspected something, but Esther said nothing about it.

Caroline filled her mother in on Kol getting hired to tend bar. She explained that she and Damon were dating now (which made Esther grin like a madwoman), but left out that he was staying with her right now. That was a can of worms that she just didn't want to open yet.

Around four thirty, Esther looked at Caroline, "Are you picking up Niklaus at the airport?"

Caroline looked at her watch. She had totally forgotten that Klaus needed to be picked up at the airport, and she froze for a moment. She realized that Klaus had been staying with her the last few months and he was going to find out about Damon being there. _Oh shit_, she thought. _He's definitely not going to like this._

"Caroline?" Esther asked, snapping Caroline out of her thoughts. "Are you going to pick up Niklaus at the airport?"

Caroline nodded, "Yes. I am."

"You better get going, then. His flight lands in about five minutes. You're going to be late."

Caroline sighed and walked out of the shop. She debated for a moment calling Damon and warning him, but decided against it. She wanted to talk to Klaus first.

-x-

"Hey, Care," Klaus said as he got into her passenger's seat that afternoon. "You look like you've got some heavy shit on your mind."

Caroline nodded, "I've got to talk to you, Nik."

"Sounds serious," he said, chuckling. She had a solemn look one her face and it worried him.

"Okay, spill it, Caroline. What happened?"

Caroline was trying to figure out how to tell him. She wasn't sure what would make it better. She could just say to him, _Hey Nik, guess what? Damon and I are dating, and he just happens to be home right now._ That just didn't sound good to her. She was afraid he'd flip out.

Caroline sighed, "Damon Salvatore is at home."

Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"He and I, we're kind of…well, we're kind of together." She said it as quickly as she could, trying to get it out. She was using the band aid effect – do it fast, it might not hurt so much. Klaus just watched her.

"Okay, I'll explain," she said, realizing that she probably needed to put in some background information. She told him about the dates they went on, her staying the night at the boarding house, even taking Damon home with her. Klaus listened to everything that Caroline had to say without interrupting once.

"So, do you guys sleep together?" Klaus asked, once Caroline was finished.

"We haven't had sex, if that's what you're asking."

Klaus gave her a look and then laughed, "No, I wasn't asking that. I wanted to know where he has been sleeping."

"Oh, okay," Caroline said, blushing. "On the couch. He only came home with me last night, Nik."

"Wait – you brought him home and you're making him sleep on the couch?"

"I didn't have a say in it. He said he wanted me to feel more comfortable and he insisted he sleep on the couch. It was his idea."

"That gives him points, I guess," Klaus said. "So, how is lover boy? I mean, he's behaving himself, yes?"

Caroline nodded, "He's being a perfect gentleman."

Klaus nodded.

"Drop me off at Mother's house," he said to her after a moment. "Elijah and Kol wanted to have a guy's night tonight, and so I'm staying there."

"You don't even want to go home to get your car?"

Klaus shook his head, and Caroline sighed, "This is because of Damon, isn't it?"

Klaus shook his head, "No, it's not. I really did promise Kol and Elijah we could have a guy's night, that is the God's honest truth, I swear."

Caroline nodded, but Klaus figured something else was up, "What's going on in your head, Caroline?"

She was silent, so Klaus asked, "Do you like him?"

Caroline sighed, nodding, "Yes, I do. I like him quite a bit, actually."

"So, what's the problem?"

"I like him too much, Nik. I like him too much."

"Not everybody is going to abandon you. We didn't abandon you, did we?" Caroline shook her head, so Klaus continued, "And I want you to get that thought out of your mind right now."

"What thought?"

"The one you're thinking. About my father."

Caroline's silence confirmed what she was thinking, and Klaus nodded, "You've never met the man, so I can tell you things you don't know. Father was cold, he was cruel, and he was heartless. He made a shitty father. He wasn't exactly abusive, per se, but he was very verbally mean to every one of us – except Rebekah. She was almost six when he left, and she was too young to really understand what was going on. All she knows is that when she woke up one morning, he was gone. Now, Kol, Finn, Elijah and I weren't unhappy to see him go – except for the fact that he left my mother heartbroken. No matter what Father said to her, she loved him. She loved him then, and probably always will. The only reason he stayed with Mother to begin with was because she was pregnant with me, and he felt like he needed to stick around. I don't miss the man, not at all, and if that makes me sound heartless, then so be it."

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"Love is not a weakness, Caroline. Just because you've gotten heartbroken in the past, that's no reason to barricade yourself in your own little world. Damon is not my father; he's not Tyler or Mike, either."

"You hate Damon Salvatore."

"I don't _hate_ Damon, Caroline. I don't exactly trust him, but I'm betting that he can make you happy. Besides, you trust your friend Elena, right?"

Caroline nodded, "Yes, I do, with my life."

"So trust her. She's known Damon Salvatore her entire life, and she trusts him. The very first day I met her and commented about Damon's ways, she defended him pretty vehemently. Besides, if he just wanted to have sex with you, do you think he would've taken you on two dates and spent a fortune on you? Where'd he take you?"

"Well, he took me to Mario's –"

"That really fucking expensive restaurant in Richmond? The one where you have to have reservations for, like, six months before you can get in?"

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, that's the one. He took me there for our first date."

"Do you think he would impress you like that if he just wanted to sleep with you?"

Caroline shrugged, "Maybe that's the way he works."

"Think about what you just said, Caroline. A guy doesn't work that hard just for a piece of ass."

"Yeah, well I've been around, Nik, and some guys call it sport."

"I'm not talking about putting trust in the man, Caroline. Just – a little faith won't kill you."

Caroline shrugged as she pulled up to her mother's house. Klaus grabbed his bag and opened the door. Before he shut it, he said, "Thanks for the ride, Care. I expect to be able to talk to Damon tomorrow."

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, I kind of figured."

-x-

When Caroline got home that night, the house was mostly dark, so she figured that Damon wasn't there. She unlocked the front door and stepped inside, and what she saw surprised her.

The living room and hallway were practically covered in bouquets of tulips. Damon must've remembered that her favorite flower was a tulip. Caroline's mind went back to their very first date, where Damon brought her tulips, and she smiled. She went through the living room, into the dining room, and saw even more tulips. He must've bought out at least six flower shops with all the tulips that were there. She set her keys down on the dining room table and peeked in the kitchen – he wasn't there, but it smelled like food, like someone had been cooking. She started up the stairs and saw it – rose petals leading into her bedroom. The path of rose petals went in through her bedroom to the master bath, where she saw flickering light. Caroline went in to investigate. Damon was sitting at the edge of the bathtub, drawing a bath.

"What's this?" Caroline asked him, finding her voice. Damon got up and came over to her.

"I wanted to do something special for you. Now, don't worry about this; I'll go somewhere else while you take this bath, but I drew one for you."

"Why?" Caroline asked. It felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest.

"Because I wanted to show you that you're special, Caroline."

"Look, Damon, you definitely did not have to do all of this," Caroline said while Damon leaned over and turned the water off. "This must've cost a fortune."

Damon put his finger to her lips, "This was worth it, though, for you."

"You're going to go broke doing special things for me," Caroline said, and it made Damon smile.

"Then it's money well spent."

_Oh my God,_ Caroline thought, _does he even know how fucking romantic he is being?_ She felt like she could've died and went to heaven. Nobody had ever been this romantic to her, not ever. She was out of words, wishing she had a way of telling him how much she appreciated it, but the only thing she could come up with was, "Thank you."

"I'll leave so you can take your bath now, Caroline," he said, and he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Caroline was caught up in her thoughts while she bathed. He _was _right; the bath was really great. She thought about what Klaus had said in the car. Caroline was well aware that she pushed people away, but when you have the past she had, you learn to push people away. She learned early on that any feelings you had – any at all – could be used against you if the right person knew you had them. She had learned to guard her feelings, to guard everything like it was the biggest secret of her life.

After she was finished bathing, Caroline got out, and wandered into her bedroom to get some pajamas. She pulled some pajama pants out of her dresser and a T-shirt she had stolen from Klaus years ago came out of her closet. She got dressed and went down the stairs. She looked around the living room, but Damon was nowhere to be found. She wandered into the dining room, and smelled food, so she went into the kitchen. Damon was bent over, pulling something out of the oven.

"I cooked dinner for us," he said, and she gave him a surprised look.

"What?" he asked, almost defensively. "Don't you think I can cook?"

"Well, you cooked last night, but it was spaghetti, so I figured –"

"You figured that I couldn't cook much? Caroline, I'm Italian. Besides that, I love to cook."

"And what did you make?"

"I made chicken marsala. Your mother told me it's one of your favorite dishes." Damon brought a plate out into the dining room and lit the candles that were there.

"Wow," Caroline said. That was all she could manage; she was having a hard time believing everything that was happening.

Damon dished up dinner and sat across from Caroline, "Tell me about your day."

Caroline sighed, "Mother came into the shop today. She looked over the sketches I did, and she said she'd help me with the measuring and everything."

"That's good. Elena will be happy to hear it." Damon seemed genuinely interested. Caroline wondered if he was always this interested in what everybody had to say, or if it was just her. Caroline took a bite of her dinner, "Oh my God, Damon, this is amazing!" she exclaimed. Damon smiled.

She took a deep breath. Klaus' words were bugging her, and she decided she was going to share, even if it was just a little bit. This was it; it was either now or never.

"Damon, do you want to know why I got Lizzie? Or when I did?"

Damon nodded as he took a bite. Caroline took another deep breath before saying, "I got her after Tyler and I broke up. In fact, I got her right after. I left him on a Friday, and I went out and bought her on Saturday. I came back home to Richmond that day, and I had Lizzie with me. I've always been an animal person – I just love them – but I needed the security. I needed to know that I was protected, because when I left Tyler, he said to me, and I quote, 'You'll be back. I'll make sure of it.' So, the very next day I went out and got Lizzie. She had been trained very well, and she makes me feel safe. With her here, I feel safer than I ever did before."

Damon had an indescribable look on his face; it was one that Caroline couldn't exactly peg. After a moment of silence – which felt more like five years than two minutes – and then he said, "Is that why you have all those locks on your door?"

Caroline nodded, "Yes, it is. It's also why I have the security system."

"Is that why you moved back to Richmond? So you wouldn't have to worry about running into him?"

She debated lying to him. She thought about going back into her nice, safe shell, where things were always safe and she didn't have to worry. She reminded herself of her mother and of Klaus' words, so she nodded, "Yes. That's why."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Caroline," Damon said honestly. Caroline nodded.

"Has he tried to contact you since you moved back here?"

Caroline shook her head, "No. That run-in with Carol I had at the founder's party all those months ago was the first time I'd talked to a Lockwood since the split. But Tyler is a coward, and he knows that I have a Marine protecting me. Besides, he's afraid of Elijah."

Damon looked at her, "Elijah? The quiet brother?"

Caroline nodded, taking another bite of her dinner. "Damon, Elijah is a private investigator. He's very good at his job, and that includes finding people who don't want to be found, and sometimes, making people disappear. Elijah was offered a position at the CIA, but he turned them down. He has a problem with authority."

"Remind me never to piss him off," Damon said with a nervous laugh.

After dinner, Damon cleared the dishes and Caroline followed him into the kitchen. Caroline watched him closely, and thought back to those romantic things he did for her. He drew her a bath, he cooked her dinner, and she didn't even want to start thinking about how much money he must've put into all those flowers that were all over her house. She thought about how sweet it was, and how he must care if he did things like that for her, and she realized she was holding back. She wanted to be with him – in every way possible, at that. So, without warning, Caroline grabbed the collar of Damon's shirt and pulled him down for an earth-shattering kiss. Damon got so caught up in the kiss that he backed her up against the wall and they were making out ferociously. His kisses were so perfect; they felt like heaven. He kissed her gently, but passionately. The kisses were so intense that he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He started kissing down her neck, and she found the will to speak, "Maybe…oh _God_…maybe we ought to take this up to my bedroom," she said through gasps.

Damon lifted Caroline, her legs around his waist, and carried her up the stairs. Once they got to her bed, he dropped her down onto it and just looked at her. He hovered over her, capturing her lips with his once again. This time, the kiss was slow, almost agonizingly so. The kissing continued until they had to break apart to breathe, and Damon took that as a hint to start kissing down her neck. Caroline moaned, it just felt so good. She felt Damon smirk against her skin as he continued his way down her neck. She leaned up so he could remove her shirt and bra, and he threw them behind him, not caring where they landed. He leaned down, taking a nipple in his mouth while kneading her other breast. She let out another moan. He switched places with his mouth and hand, doing the same thing to the other one. He kissed his way down her stomach before unbuttoning and unzipping her jeans, pulling them down her legs, along with her panties, so that she was bare beneath him. He took a moment to look at her body –to really look at it – and she was beautiful. He pulled her to the edge of the bed and knelt down on his knees so that he was level with her core, and he started to push her legs apart. Instinctively, she snapped them shut.

"Relax, Caroline," he said. He ran his finger down the inside of her thigh, and she shivered and relaxed her legs for him. He kissed his way up her calves, up her thighs, taking time to pay attention to the scars on her legs. He knew she didn't care, but he wanted to love her – all of her – and those scars represented part of her life that Damon wished he could just kiss away. He hated even thinking about the horror she must've gone through, and how painful life was for her to even want to do that to herself.

When she felt his tongue on her clit, Caroline jumped. It was a sensation different from what she'd ever felt, and she loved it. It wasn't long before she was writhing beneath him, and he smirked against her skin. He inserted one, then two fingers inside of her and started to pump them in and out, slowly, as he took the bundle of nerves in his mouth, sucking on it lightly. The moans that escaped from Caroline's mouth told him everything he needed to know; she loved this. He curled his fingers up inside of her and her back arched up off of the bed. Sucking on her clit, he bit it gently, and she fell apart. She actually screamed when she came, which never happened, ever, and she literally saw stars in front of her eyes.

Damon got up, wiping his mouth, after she came down from her high, and he grinned at her.

"Okay, so you were right," Caroline said, and Damon couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips.

She stood beside him, giving him a kiss, which he deepened, thrusting his tongue her mouth, and she moaned. She had always thought that the taste of her on his lips would turn her off, but instead, it just turned her on even more. She paused so she could rip the clothes from his body so he was as naked as she was. She started to kneel, to return the favor to him, but he grabbed her hands and lifted her up so she was standing again. She looked at him in confusion.

"I'm trying really hard to make this special, Caroline, but I need to be inside of you, like, now," he said, and he went over to the bed. He lay down and pulled her with him, "I want you to ride me."

Caroline hesitated for a moment. She had never actually been on top before, as the guys she'd ever been with were all about control. Damon seemed patient, though, as she went over to her end table and pulled out a condom. She was thankful that she was prepared. She rolled it onto him and then slid down on his length, slowly. Once he filled her, she paused for a moment before rotating her hips, giving herself time to adjust to his length. It had been a while since she had been filled like this, and had honestly forgotten how good it felt. She started moving on his length, slowly, grinding herself against it. She looked down and saw that he was keeping eye contact with her, and she immediately wanted to shy away. She just couldn't look him in the eye – it was too intimate, and it was something that she'd never done during sex before. Her thoughts started to shut down as she was filled with pleasure and she started moving harder and faster. She started bouncing up and down on him and was moaning louder than she had ever before.

"C'mon, baby, just let it go," Damon said, reaching in-between them, pinching her clit. That was all it took. Again, she screamed when she came, and it took her by surprise. She had just had one of the most intense orgasms of her entire life. Surprising Caroline, Damon flipped them over so he was on top, and said to her, "I want you to come one more time for me, baby," and he moved faster inside of her. He took a nipple in his mouth and gently bit it, and Caroline moaned loudly. He kissed up her neck to her lips, and kissed her passionately. It was one of the most gentle kisses she'd ever gotten in her entire life, and so full of passion that she felt like she could explode. Damon reached in-between their bodies and pinched her clit between the length of his fingers, and she exploded. She literally saw stars, and she screamed when she came. It wasn't long after she came that Damon came, too. Damon pulled out of her, pulling the condom off, disposing it into the wastebasket that was by her bed and. She got up and went into the bathroom. After a few moments, Caroline came back out, dressed. Damon was almost upset, but then thought, maybe she didn't like to cuddle afterwards. Instead of being hurt, he said to her, "Come back to bed with me."

"You like to cuddle?" she asked him, surprised. He nodded and she climbed into bed with him, pulling a blanket up over them, "I, uh…I've always been with guys who didn't like this part. It was always get in, get the job done, and get out."

"Well, I love this part," he replied honestly.

They hadn't been lying together for very long when Caroline's eyelids started to feel heavy. Right before she drifted off, she felt at peace; she felt like finally, for once in her Godforsaken life, something was going to come out right.


	15. Chapter 13

Sighing, Caroline walked out of her office as she heard the bell above her shop door chime. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Elena standing there.

"Elena, hi," Caroline said hesitantly. "What are you doing here?"

"That's a nice greeting for your very best friend," Elena said with a laugh. Caroline smiled.

"Anyways, I'm here to start planning for the Miss Mystic Falls dresses. I heard you finished your sketches."

"Did Mother tell you?" Caroline asked.

"I called her because I hadn't heard from you in four days. I even tried calling you, but it seems as if you've turned off your phone." Caroline looked away, guiltily, so Elena said, "I'll take that as a yes. Been tied up with Damon, huh?" Elena grinned ear to ear and it made Caroline laugh nervously.

"How do you know Damon is staying with me?" Caroline asked.

Elena laughed, "You just told me."

Caroline looked embarrassed, but Elena said, "No, really, I haven't seen him around the boarding house lately, and Stefan hasn't heard from him lately. I was just taking a guess. But, speaking of Damon, you look good, Care. I mean, really good. How are things between the two of you?"

Caroline blushed. She felt the color start to come over her face, but couldn't really do anything to stop it. Elena saw it, too, and she grinned again, "Did you guys finally? How was it? I need details, Caroline."

Caroline looked at her friend, "Seriously, Elena? He's practically your brother. You grew up with Stefan."

"Yeah, and Damon's my friend. Come on, you know as well as I do that every girl from Mystic Falls I've ever known has had a crush on Damon Salvatore at one point or another. Me growing up with Stefan has nothing to do with it. I bet he's fucking amazing in the sack." Elena saw the look on Caroline's face, so she thought she should clarify, "It's not that I still want him, Caroline. It was just a stupid little schoolgirl crush. I love Stefan, and he keeps me more than satisfied." Elena saw the look on Caroline's face again, so she stopped talking for a moment. Then she said, "So, what's the problem? I'm assuming there is one."

Caroline filled Elena in on everything. She left out details of their lovemaking, just because she felt too weird to talk about it, but let Elena know that Damon was "very good, and definitely knew what he was doing."

"So, you slept together last night, and you're here now? You snuck out."

"I didn't exactly _sneak out_," Caroline defended. "It was more like, I left."

"You don't sleep with someone and then leave without saying goodbye," Elena said, sighing. "It may have been that way with Tyler and Mike, but that's because they were douchebags. Damon is different. He's a different kind of guy than those two idiots are. When Damon dates someone, he goes all in. It's either all or nothing with him. He loves with his whole heart, and he gives it his all, no matter what."

Caroline froze, "You said love."

Elena sighed, "Caroline, don't do that. Don't fixate on one little word. Now, tell me the truth. What do you feel about Damon?"

"I have very strong feelings for him," Caroline said honestly. She could do this; she could tell Elena what exactly was going on in her head, in her heart, because Elena had never given her a reason to doubt her. Caroline trusted Elena with everything she had.

"Caroline, I know you were hurt. I know what those douchebags did to you, and I get why you're so closed off. But you need to put a little trust in Damon."

"I've only known him for a little over a month, Elena."

"Has he done anything to make you distrust him?" Elena asked, and Caroline sighed, shaking her head.

"So I don't get the problem. Why not trust him?"

"Because, Elena, when you start to trust someone, you're putting your life in their hands. You're giving them ammunition to hurt you with. They can take everything you say, everything you tell them, and use it to their advantage. I can't let him know how much he means to me. He could use it to his advantage, you know, and then I would be thoroughly fucked."

"You're basing everything on your past relationships, Caroline. Just because Mike and Tyler hurt you, is that why you think Damon will?"

"I can't take the chance."

"Caroline, I know how much you hate it when people stereotype you and when they judge you. You've been around nothing but judgmental people since you were put into foster care, but do you know what? You're stereotyping Damon. Did you ever think of that?"

Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again. Elena had a point, and Caroline knew it. She had done nothing but stereotype guys since she left Tyler. She had been around scummy guys so she figured they were all the same. Caroline opened her mouth again to speak, but then closed it. She wasn't sure how to phrase the words to make them sound okay.

"He hasn't given you any reason to distrust him, Caroline. You know, put a little faith in the fact that he hasn't hurt you, and I honestly don't think that he wants to. Give him that much. I trust Damon. Can't you trust me to trust him?"

Caroline sighed; she was beat, and she knew it. She nodded, "Okay, fine."

"Anyway, close up shop early. You need the break. We can talk business later – you need to go home and be with your man right now," Elena said with a great big grin on her face.

Caroline laughed, "You sound ridiculous."

Elena just grinned.

-x-

Damon woke up alone. He sat up, realizing that he was naked under the big blanket on Caroline's bed, and just sat there for a moment. The irony hit him like a rock. _So this is what waking up alone feels like_, he thought to himself. It felt a little disappointing. In fact, he was surprised. No, scratch that, he was _extremely _surprised. It was surprising how disappointed he felt. Damon didn't expect to feel anything because he had never felt this way before, not about anyone. He grabbed his boxers off the floor and put them on, venturing downstairs to see if he could find Caroline. He looked around the house, but Caroline wasn't here. His heart practically sank. He wanted her to be here. He wanted to know that she enjoyed last night as much as he did.

God, he was turning into a sap, and the irony of that didn't escape him either. He didn't used to care, and he wondered what she was doing to him. Why did she have to make him feel this way? What was it about her that made her so extraordinary? There was something about Caroline that Damon just couldn't put his finger on, but there were little things about her that he loved. He loved how stubborn she was, how she worried about spending all of his money, and how loyal she was to the Mikaelsons. Sure, she worried about them changing their minds and not wanting her anymore, but he could understand why. Her life had been nothing but abuse in it, so it seemed only natural that she'd fear that.

He rubbed a hand over his face. Why did he even care? She was the first girl he'd actually wanted a relationship with since Katherine left. He thought he had loved Katherine back then, but part of him wondered if it was, indeed, love. She had played him for a fool and everybody knew it. He had been so lovesick when it came to her that he couldn't see her for who she was. But Caroline was so different; she was everything that Katherine wasn't.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of the opening door. He saw Caroline come in, and then she turned and looked at him.

"Hi," she said. "Did you just get up? It's after one."

"I'm on bartender's hours," Damon answered. "Tending bar at The Grill has made me more of a night person." He paused, then asked, "Where were you?"

"I went to work. I also got bitched out by Elena for doing so." Caroline knew that Elena had told her to give Damon just a little trust, but it was going to be very difficult. Caroline turned and walked into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. She hopped up onto the kitchen island counter, sipping her juice.

"I thought that last night was bad for you or something," Damon said quietly, and Caroline looked surprised.

"Last night was unbelievable, Damon. It really was. With the flowers, and the food, and the mind-blowing sex, I couldn't ask for a better night. But I'm in this mindset that it's just that; just sex. Sex always was just sex to me, and there's nothing more to it. That's the way it was with the other…_guys_," Caroline couldn't bring herself to say boyfriends, since she really didn't see them as boyfriends. They never treated her like that. Damon treated her so differently from them, it was almost amazing. "They didn't care about the cuddling after, about the morning after, even. It was get in, get the job done, and get out. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I really do mean that."

Damon didn't speak; he just settled himself in-between her legs. He cupped her face and met her lips with his. He wanted to let her know that he was always going to be there for her, that he wasn't going anywhere, and he wished that he could put all his feelings and emotions into words. Instead, he just put everything he had into the kiss, and Caroline angled her head to the side, sliding her tongue across his bottom lip, almost a silent request for him to open his mouth. He was surprised that she was initiating this, but he obliged, opening his mouth and she thrust her tongue inside his mouth. He moaned on contact; she just felt so damn good. He put one of his hands in her hair and the other one of his hands went to her back, and he massaged her tongue with his. Caroline slid her hands down his chest; God, she just loved the feel of his skin. Damon broke the kiss, needing to breathe, and then started to kiss his way down her neck. He kissed her collarbone back up to her mouth.

When Damon had his mouth on hers, Caroline couldn't comprehend anything. She couldn't even think a whole thought. Nothing was making any sense inside her head. She broke the kiss this time, sliding off the counter and kneeling in front of him. She snaked her hand into his boxers and pulled out his cock. She wasn't sure why she even thought about it; with the other guys she had been with, sex was never initiated by her. But with Damon, it was different. She _wanted_ him. He had created a need that throbbed between her legs. She took him in her mouth, taking him as far as she could go. She flattened her tongue so she could fit more of him in her mouth, and hummed around him. Damon gathered her hair and gently held it. It surprised Caroline how gentle he was being. It was just something that she wasn't accustomed to. Most – okay, all – the guys she'd been with were rough, forcing her to take them further in her mouth, but Damon was different. He was just holding her hair. It seemed like everything was different with Damon. She released him from her mouth with a pop and looked up at him. She was met by his crystal blue eyes, watching her. She smiled mischievously and went back down, taking him in her mouth once again. A moan escaped Damon's lips, and Caroline smirked against him. She took him deeper in her mouth, feeling him hitting the back of her throat, and she hummed around him. Damon moaned loudly; she was just so warm and wet, and he felt like he was going to explode at any moment.

"Shit, Caroline, stop," Damon said, trying to pull her up. "I'm close and I don't want to cum just yet."

Caroline nodded, getting off her knees and kissing his lips. She sighed as their tongues tangled with each other. She was giving heavy thought to taking him up to her bedroom when she heard the front door open and close, and Klaus' voice yelled, "Hey Care?"

Caroline went over to the island counter, jumping onto it, and took a drink of her juice as Klaus entered. He looked from Damon, back to Caroline, back to Damon again. He shook his head, although the fact that Damon was here in his boxers did not escape him. Klaus clenched his fists; he didn't want to say anything in front of Caroline, but he really hated this man. Part of him wondered why the hell Caroline would choose a guy like him, and Damon noticed Klaus' frustration. Damon said, "I, uh…I better go shower," and he left the room, and Klaus watched him walk away with a dirty look on his face.

"How are things?" Klaus asked. He wanted to say more, but he really did not want to know what he just interrupted.

Caroline smiled, "Things are fine, Nik. They're going really good."

Klaus looked at her and sighed. He better tell her what he came to tell her, "Hey, Care, Mother just dropped me off. She said that she wants to invite you guys to dinner tonight."

Caroline sighed, "Really? How did she find out that Damon's here?"

"Same way she knows everything else. Mother just always knows."

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Who else is going to be there?"

"The family. Elijah and Rose, Sage and Finn, me and," Klaus coughed, "Rebekah."

"Rebekah? She's in Europe with her rich boyfriend," Caroline said, but Klaus shook his head.

"She got back this morning, and Mother wants a nice family dinner, Care," Klaus said, and Caroline just watched him. "She wants to get all of her children together and they can be civil. Please, Caroline. You'll have Damon there, and you know how to handle Rebekah if she starts to be too much of a bitch."

Caroline sighed. She didn't want to get into a fight right now about it, so she nodded, signaling defeat, "Tell Mother we'll be there. Give me a time and we'll be there."

"Good. Be there around seven. And now, I'm leaving. So you guys can do…whatever you want. I don't even want to think about it," Klaus muttered, and then he was gone.

-x-

Caroline and Damon sat in her car in front of the Mikaelson house. Caroline didn't want to go in, and was wasting as much time as possible before going in to face Rebekah. She sat in the driver's seat of her car, holding onto Damon's hand with a vice grip. After a few moments of silence, Damon looked at her, "Can I ask why you're dreading this so much?"

"Rebekah hates me, and believe me, the feeling is very mutual," Caroline said to him. "She thinks she's perfect, and she hates the fact that her family loves someone as broken as me. I mean, look at me. These stupid scars," Caroline said, taking her hand from his and looking at the underside of her wrists, "they prove that I'm not a strong woman. I am very broken."

"What does this have to do with Rebekah?" Damon asked. Caroline sighed.

"She likes to point certain things out to me. You know, how I was never adopted, or how I never had a high school boyfriend, or how my last name isn't the same as theirs, or even the fact that I was fuck buddies with a man five years older than me. How I couldn't be a good person because he wouldn't want to just fuck me, he'd want to be with me. She points these things out, pushing me closer to the inevitable."

"And what is that, exactly?" Damon asked, almost afraid of what her answer might be.

"The day I actually succeed in killing myself," Caroline answered quietly. Damon hoped to God he had been hallucinating it, but from the look on Caroline's face, he knew he hadn't.

"Look, Damon, I'm not saying that I want to kill myself this time," Caroline answered, seeing the horrific expression on Damon's face. "It's just that, life is so damn hard sometimes, and it seems like that would be the easier way to go. It would rid me of all the pain I feel."

"I'm not going to say that pain isn't going to be there, but I want to be there for you, Caroline. When the going gets tough, come to me. I can't promise that I'll be the best man all the time, but I can promise that I'll try. I will fucking try, Caroline. Please believe that."

"I do," she answered quietly, and it surprised her, because she was telling the truth. She somehow just knew he meant it, and she believed him.

"Things are going to be fine. I'll be there with you, and I'm not going anywhere, Caroline."

Caroline nodded again and got out of her car. She and Damon walked up the front walk, hand in hand, and Caroline opened the front door. Rebekah was standing in the hallway when Caroline and Damon came inside, and she looked at them.

Caroline was thanking God that Esther was standing behind Rebekah. If she wasn't, Caroline knew, Rebekah would be downright rude. Caroline forced a smile, "Hi, Rebekah. This is my boyfriend, Damon Salvatore."

"Hello, Damon" Rebekah said cheerfully, shaking Damon's hand. Caroline rolled her eyes. Rebekah turned to Caroline, "Hello, _Forbes_," she said snidely. Caroline's eyes narrowed. She knew Rebekah was pointing out her last name, because she wasn't one of them. But Caroline had promised to be civil, and she was going to try.

"Hello, Rebekah," Caroline said through gritted teeth.

"Hey Care, Damon," Esther said from behind Rebekah. Rebekah rolled her eyes, turning and walking away. Caroline looked at Esther, "Mother, I'm trying. Honestly, I really am. She just makes it so freaking hard."

"I know, Sweetheart. But I'm really happy that you are, indeed, trying."

Dinner went as smoothly as it could. During dinner, Caroline found out that Rebekah had broken up with her rich boyfriend over the weekend, and she rolled her eyes. She knew that Rebekah was going to play the victim for this, which was pretty obvious. She said he had cheated on her, but part of Caroline didn't want to believe that. Rebekah would make up any excuse to play the victim. After that, Rebekah kept bragging about how wonderful Europe was, and ,"I won't say any names, but it's so much better than _certain people_ deserve," Rebekah said with a rude tone in her voice. Caroline knew that was directed at her, but so did everyone else at the table. Esther looked at Rebekah sternly, "Rebekah, that's enough," she said. "I wanted my children here, and all civil to each other." You can at least be civil to Caroline, whether you like her or not."

Caroline excused herself to go up and use the bathroom, and after about ten minutes, Damon got worried about her. Dinner was over at that point, and they were all gathered in the parlor, so he snuck up to see her.

He opened the door where Caroline was sitting on the bathroom counter, wiping her eyes with a piece of toilet paper. He looked at her sympathetically, "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. She just nodded.

"Look, Caroline, Rebekah's a bitch," Damon stated, coming closer to Caroline. "I know that last thing she said was directed at you, and I wanted to bitch slap her."

Caroline smiled weakly, "But you won't, and that's what makes you a good man, Damon."

He was almost taken aback by her statement, "You think I'm a good man?" he asked her.

She shrugged, "I didn't mean to say it, but yes, I do. There are things about you, Damon, that show that you are."

"She does stuff like that all the time," Caroline said, feeling like she was going to cry again. "She hates me. I hate her. She's angry because her mother pays attention to me, and because her brothers love me. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't just leave."

"C'mon, it's not _that_ bad," Damon said, trying to cheer Caroline up. It wasn't working, though, so he did the next best thing. He came over to her and wrapped his strong arms around her. She melted into the embrace, and the tears started to flow once more. She was sobbing uncontrollably, but Damon didn't seem to mind.

"I'm sorry," she said, pulling away from him. "I got your shirt all wet."

Damon smiled, "Really, it's not that bad."

Caroline sighed, wiping her eyes, "I've gotta get back down there. If Rebekah finds out that I was up here, crying over her comments, she'd gloat."

"Caroline," Damon said, as Caroline slid off the counter, "you're better than her, do you know that? You're worth about a thousand Rebekahs."

Caroline nodded and went back down the stairs, where she saw Finn at the grand piano in the sitting room. He was a pianist in a symphony, and was very skilled at playing. He was playing something, probably Bach or Beethoven. He loved playing classic pieces. Caroline saw Elijah over in the corner, talking with Rose and Klaus. Part of Caroline wondered if she'd ever be able to tell Klaus that Rose and Damon were an item once upon a time. She knew, at this moment at least, that that would lead to more distrust of Damon. That was the last thing that Caroline wanted. She didn't expect Klaus to trust Damon, because she didn't even, but she did want peace between the two men.

"Where were you?" Esther said, coming up to Caroline.

"I, uh…" she stopped for a moment. "To tell you the truth, Mother, Rebekah's comment really hurt me, and I was composing myself in the bathroom. Damon came up to see if I was okay."

"Rebekah left," Esther said to her after a moment. "She wasn't too happy when I had some words with her after you went upstairs." Esther paused for a moment, and then said, "I know you have a hard time trusting men, Care, but Damon is definitely a keeper."

Caroline nodded, "I know."

"He's a very nice young man, and I want only the best for you, you know," Esther continued. "I think he could make you very happy."

Esther left to get dessert out of the oven, and Caroline thought about what she said. Caroline thought about, in the last few days, how satisfied Damon had made her. He had made her feel loved, cared for, and she was starting to think that she could give him some trust. Just a pinch, as Elena had told her earlier that day. Yes, just a pinch would do.


	16. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay, so there are absolutely no excuses for the length of time I have gone without updating, I know. My husband, who happens to be my beta, has been terribly busy with school and work lately, and so I'm looking for a new beta, and this story means a lot to me, so I want to make sure every chapter is really good before I post it. I have the next two chapters written, ready to be beta-ed, and I'm sure when I have a different beta, things will run a lot more smoothly. **

**And once again, reviews are lovely.**

_She was running. She knew the woods that she was in, and she recognized what was going on right away. He was chasing her. She was running as if her life depended on it. And it may have._

"_LC, come on," Mike's voice was distant, almost far away, and she eased up on her running for a few moments, trying to catch her breath. She started breathing normally, and she heard a twig snap, probably from under his foot, and she started running once again. She wasn't fast enough, though, and she felt a hand on her arm. His minty breath was close to her face as he said, "Boo."_

"_You never did learn, did you LC?" Mike said to her. His hand came to her throat, and his grip was tight. "You're unlovable. Nobody can love a broken little girl like you."_

"_You don't know that," Caroline wheezed out. His grip was tight, but she was determined. "You have no idea what is going on with me right now."_

"_Think about it, LC," Mike said, watching her. His eyes were dark, and part of it really did scare her. "Damon's not going to stick around. And those Mikaelson boys, they don't love you. You're just their responsibility."_

_He was telling her everything that she thought about when she was depressed. These were her worst fears being vocalized._

"_I haven't been their responsibility in years," Caroline said, getting bold. "They don't stick with me because they have to."_

"_Keep telling yourself that, LC," Mike laughed. "But mark my words. Damon is going to leave. You don't deserve a happy ending."_

_His grip was tightening on her throat, and she took one last breath before –_

"Caroline?" Caroline's eyes flew open as she heard Damon's voice. She looked at him. _Damn it,_ she cursed inwardly. _The nightmares are back._

"Caroline?" Damon asked again. "Are you okay? You screamed in your sleep."

Caroline nodded, composing herself. "I'm fine, Damon," she said. She got up out of bed and went into her bathroom, shutting and locking the door. She went over to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of sleeping pills.

Yes, Caroline took sleeping pills. They had been prescribed to her by a psychiatrist she started seeing after moving to the Mikaelson's household. These weren't normal sleeping pills; they had an anti-depressant in them. She took them for the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis that she had been given, and they helped the nightmares. She had had the nightmares for years; after everything that had happened to her. Her nightmares were almost always the same; Mike, or someone else, _anybody else_, saying her greatest fear – the fact that nobody wanted her. That she didn't deserve anybody. Caroline leaned over the sink and splashed cold water on her face. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She looked pathetic. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was practically trembling.

"Caroline?" she heard Damon's voice through the door. "Caroline, what's going on?"

"I'm fine," Caroline said, but Damon knew that she was not. Even her voice was shaky. She was trying really hard to keep up the front that she was all put together, but she was slowly losing it. That's when the tears started to fall.

"Let me in, Caroline," Damon said, a little more firmly this time. "I can tell you're not fine. I want to see you."

Caroline sighed, shoving the pills back into the medicine cabinet. She was tempted to take one, but knew if she did, she'd sleep until noon, at least. She went over and unlocked the bathroom door, opening it so she could see Damon.

"I'm fine," she said again. She thought that if she evened out her breathing, reciting _breathe in, breathe out_ to herself, that she could calm down a little bit. It wasn't working, though, and she knew it. Hell, even Damon knew it.

"You're not fine," Damon said to her. He watched her carefully, "What happened?"

Caroline shook her head, "It's nothing. I had a nightmare."

Damon nodded, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Caroline shook her head again, "No, thanks. I'm good."

"You know, keeping everything bottled up is bad for you, Caroline. You need to let someone in."

"I let plenty of people in."

"Like who?"

"Mother, Nik, Elena. They've never hurt me."

Damon almost looked hurt, "I've never hurt you, either, you know. You could talk to me. Please. I care about you, Caroline, and I want to help you."

Part of Caroline felt bad. She felt guilty for keeping this a secret from Damon, but she had convinced herself that it was too soon to discuss these things. She didn't even want him knowing that she took sleeping pills. What if he thought she was some kind of drug addict? She figured that if he knew about the pills, he'd leave. While Caroline wasn't always convinced 100% that she should be with Damon, she didn't want him to leave, either.

"I don't want to talk about it, Damon. I'm tired," Caroline said, faking a yawn. "I just want to go back to bed."

They headed back to bed, but Damon snuggled close to Caroline. He knew that she wasn't telling the truth, that something more was happening, but he didn't want to push it. He held her closely to him, wanting to protect her, even from her dreams. It wasn't long until Caroline heard his even breathing and knew that Damon had fallen asleep. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was almost four AM. She sighed as sleep started to take her. She really needed to look inside herself and figure things out.

-x-

Caroline sat in her shop the next day. She was dead tired, and bored, too. She was getting ready to go back to Mystic Falls to do the measuring for the girls, but needed a place to do it. Caroline didn't want to call Elena – Elena would ask her questions about Damon, and she didn't want to talk about Damon. She was almost tempted to call Bonnie and Jeremy and ask if she could crash there, but then Elena would know she was avoiding her. Against her better judgment, she picked up the phone and called Bonnie, telling her it had been way too long since they hung out and asked if she could stay there. Bonnie sounded ecstatic.

Caroline breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Klaus walk in. He'd help her take her mind off Damon, that much was for certain. He looked at her, "You look like shit, Care. What happened?"

She shook her head, "I had another nightmare last night, Nik."

Klaus nodded, "Have you been taking your pills?"

Caroline was embarrassed, but she shook her head anyways, "I don't want Damon to know," she answered quietly. "I don't want him to think I'm some kind of drug addict or something."

"Fuck what he thinks," Klaus said, not caring about how he sounded. "You need those pills, Caroline. I know what happens when you don't take them."

"The nightmare was tolerable," she said, staring at the ground. "It was tolerable."

Klaus hated seeing Caroline like this. She was his baby sister, and she was hurting. She was probably in a rough place, too, because she was genuinely afraid that Damon would leave her. Klaus hated the man, yes, but he wanted Caroline to be happy, and if it meant that he had to put up with him to do so, Klaus was willing. Klaus came over to her and said, "Hey, I'm sorry." He was speaking softly, and Caroline wanted to cry. "I'm sorry Care. I'm a judgmental bastard, I know, but I only want what's best for you. I don't want to see you sad like this. Was it Mike again?"

Caroline was silent, but she nodded. She didn't want to go into the details, but Klaus knew her like a book. He could practically read her emotions, and she knew it.

"It's going to be okay," Klaus said soothingly, rubbing her back, but Caroline didn't really feel any better. Instead, she sighed and checked the clock on the wall. It read one o'clock. She looked at Klaus, "I'm going to go get lunch. Chinese okay?"

Klaus nodded, and with that, Caroline was gone.

-x-

Damon was worried. He was worried about Caroline, especially after she lied about the nightmare she had. He knew she was lying. She was shaky, her body was practically trembling, and her voice was very shaky, uneasy even. She was far from fine, and he knew it. He knew she had a hard time letting people in, but he really wanted to be able to be there for her. She was just making it hard for him.

He parked his car in the parking lot, and started to walk towards Caroline's shop, but something stopped him.

"Damon? Damon, what are you doing here? It's a small world," said a voice, and Damon knew right away who that voice belonged to, and he froze.

"Katherine," he spat out. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Katherine smirked and shrugged. She looked at him, "It's good to see you too, Damon. It's been a long time."

"It hasn't been long enough," Damon muttered. "Go away, Katherine. I don't want to talk to you."

Katherine cocked her head to the side and said, "And who _do_ you want to talk to? Maybe Caroline Forbes?"

Damon stopped, turned and looked at her, "What the fuck do you know about Caroline?"

"I know you tried to replace me with her," Katherine said, watching Damon intently. "But you can't. Do you know why not?"

"Because there's only one grade A bitch, and it's you?" Damon said through gritted teeth. Katherine smiled.

"Because she's broken, Damon. She's just a broken little girl. It's rather pathetic, if you ask me." She came closer to him and ran her fingernail down the length of his arm, "We used to have a lot of fun together. I know you remember."

He withdrew his arm from her touch, "Don't," he practically growled. "I don't want anything to do with you, Katherine. You don't want me, either, if you leaving was any indication."

Katherine laughed, "Silly boy. Of course I want something to do with you. I thought that you and I could have some fun together. You know, like we used to."

Damon sighed. How the hell was he ever turned on by her? She just seemed desperate to him now. Damon rolled his eyes, "I'm with Caroline now, Katherine. I don't want you anymore."

"How can you love a broken little girl like that?" Katherine said, turning vindictive. This was a part of her that Damon definitely did _not_ miss. "I mean, look at her. Nobody wants her. You can't be serious."

Damon looked Katherine directly in the eye, and his blue eyes grew almost dark, "Caroline might be broken, Katherine, but she's a thousand times the woman you are, or ever were. She may be broken, but she has the best family anyone could ever ask for, and they couldn't adopt her, but they kept her. They _chose_ her. That shows me that someone does want her. And you know what, Katherine? I want her, too. I want to be with her. She's independent, and fierce, and loving, and…and everything that you never were. You don't seem to be getting the message, but get this through your head. I. Don't. Fucking. Want. You. Anymore."

Katherine's lips formed a pout as she looked at Damon, "I'm not giving up that easily," she said, turning on her heels and walking away. Damon sighed; he didn't think she would.

-x-

Klaus witnessed the whole thing. They had just happened to be standing by Caroline's office window when Katherine came on to Damon, and Klaus heard before he saw. The thing was, however, that he witnessed Damon Salvatore turn her down. Part of Klaus was confused. Did Damon Salvatore just stand up for his sister? He figured that the Katherine that just approached him was _the _Katherine, the girl who had broken his heart and turned him into a playboy. Klaus sighed; maybe he had misjudged Damon after all. He ran out of Caroline's office, like he was on fire. He didn't want Damon to know that he had witnessed what he did.

Damon saw Klaus when he walked through the front door, "Where's Caroline?"

"She went to get lunch. She should be back in a few minutes."

Damon nodded. There was a moment of awkward silence, and part of Damon wanted to get to know this man better. Out of all her siblings, Caroline was the closest to Klaus, and Damon didn't want to have to make her choose, but he knew that this man disliked him very much – he may even hate him. Instead of saying anything, though, Damon just sighed and sat down. He figured he could just sit and wait.

Caroline came into the shop a few minutes later, holding a grocery bag. She reached into it and pulled out a container of food and handed it to Klaus, "It's General Tso's," she said. "I wasn't sure what you wanted."

Klaus nodded, "It's fine."

Caroline started to walk over to her office, and that's when she saw Damon. "Hi," she said. "How long have you been here?"

Damon shook his head, "Not very long. I just wanted to see you."

Caroline nodded, "I need to go to Mystic Falls," she said, pulling out her own box of food. "I've got to get started on the measurements and designs of the Miss Mystic Falls dresses."

Damon nodded, "Okay. Are you going to crash at the boarding house?"

Caroline shrugged, "Actually, I'm going to crash with Bonnie and Jeremy. It's been too long since I've actually spent any time with her."

"When do you want to go?"

"I'm going tonight – well, in a little while. Bonnie isn't expecting me to stay there until tomorrow, so I thought I could spend tonight with you and Elena, at the boarding house."

There was a moment of silence, and, for a moment, it felt almost awkward. Almost wrong. Caroline looked up at Damon, sadness in her eyes, "I'm sorry about this morning," she said. His eyes softened. "I mean it. I really am. I just…sometimes I have these nightmares, and they really do haunt me."

"I shouldn't have pressed you for information," Damon said after a moment. "I know you'll talk when you're ready."

Caroline nodded and continued to eat her lunch. She was fighting an internal battle with herself whether or not to tell Damon about her dreams. There was nothing he'd be able to do, though, so she thought against it. She was almost grateful when Klaus knocked on her office door, saying, "Mother's here. She wants to talk with you."

After talking to Esther for a while, she decided that tonight, after she got out of work, she was going to go to Mystic Falls, so she could start measurements tomorrow. Esther could tell something was weighing on Caroline's mind, though, and asked, "What else is going on, Care?"

Caroline rubbed a hand over her face and sneaked a peek at Damon, who was just gazing out the window in her office. She sighed deeply before explaining to her mother, "My nightmares are back, and Damon wants to know what's going on. But I can't tell him."

"Why not?"

Caroline knew that she was being ridiculous, and so did Esther, if the look on her face was any indication. Esther had this annoying habit of being able to read her children like a book. It was almost as if she could read their minds. She always seemed to know what they were thinking.

"Fine, don't answer me," Esther said after a minute. "Besides, I know what you're going to say. You think Damon's going to leave. But, Caroline, you absolutely need to take those pills. The night terrors aren't here yet, but they will come. I can promise you that."

"Mother," Caroline started, "Maybe they won't come. With Damon here with me, I feel…I feel safe. Safer than I've felt in a very long time."

"Sweetheart," Esther said, giving Caroline a hug, "I know you do. Damon's good for you. But you know what? He's going to have to go home eventually. It's not like he can move in with you. Besides, you two haven't really been dating for that long, anyways."

Esther was right. That really shouldn't have surprised Caroline, though – Esther was usually right. Damon was going to have to go home eventually. Caroline sighed before telling her mother that she was going out of town for a few days and asking her to stay at the shop. She told her that she needed to get started on these dresses, and that she had to go to Mystic Falls to do it. She also told her that she didn't want to face Elena right now.

"That doesn't sound like you, Caroline," Esther said. "I mean, since when do you _not _want to talk to Elena? She's been nothing but good to you."

"I know, Mother, I know," Caroline said. "But you know that Elena knows me better than I know myself, and, sometimes, she seems to know what I'm thinking a hell of a lot better than I even do. It's almost scary."

Esther laughed, and then said, "Elena's been good for you, Care. She's family, you know, and she loves you a lot. You two may not be blood, but you're bonded. But I'll let you in on a little secret. Sometimes it's good to have someone like that, especially when you can't figure out what you want. Elena only wants what's best for you."

Caroline sighed, "I know that. I really do." She paused for a moment before adding, "I'm going tonight. It'll be a nice change of scenery, I think."

Esther nodded, "I think a change of scenery would be good for you, Care," Esther responded. Caroline nodded and went over to where Klaus and Damon were sitting. They weren't speaking to one another, but the silence was oddly comfortable.

"You wanna feed Lizzie while I'm away?" she asked Klaus. He nodded.

"Yeah. I'd be glad to take care of her. Spend as much time in Mystic Falls – you don't get to see Damon and your friends very often."

Caroline looked at Klaus quizzically – now that was pretty fucking weird. She didn't want to jinx anything, though, so she grabbed Damon and left her shop.

-x-

When Damon had his lips on hers, Caroline couldn't think coherently. All she could think was the way he tasted, the way he felt, and she was wrapped up in him. She loved being here with him. When he was standing in front of her front door, she just couldn't resist, and she pushed him up against the side of the house and laid one on him, so to speak. She got caught up in the kiss – there was just something about kissing Damon that got better every time she did it. Kissing him was a very enjoyable activity, and seemed to get better with time. Her arms automatically went around his shoulders and she cupped his cheek. She just loved the feeling of him, and he made her feel like every nerve in her body was on fire. It was a phenomenal feeling.

Caroline fumbled with her keys to unlock the door, not wanting to pull away from him. She didn't want this kiss to end. When she dropped her keys on the ground, however, she broke the kiss and muttered, "Goddammit." She bent down to pick up her keys and looked at Damon, "Just give me a second." She went inside, putting the code into the alarm, and then grabbed Damon by chest and pushed him up against the wall. She kissed him again, this time forcefully, because, holy fuck, did she ever want him. Damon could tell, too, so he pulled his lips away from hers and whispered, "Wrap your legs around my waist." She obliged and he carried her up the stairs, going into her room and dropped her on the bed. He turned around to close the door, but Caroline said, "Turn the lock, too."

"You want to be locked in here with me?" Damon asked, slightly surprised.

Caroline nodded, "It's so Lizzie won't disturb us. When we had sex before in here, she didn't bother us because I locked the door."

Damon nodded, turning the lock, but he couldn't help thinking that she must trust him, even a little, if she was willing to be in a locked room with him. Caroline stood up and grabbed him once more, pushing him down on the bed, "We don't have a lot of time. Nik comes home from work in about an hour and I want to be out of here by then." She removed Damon's shirt, and her mouth practically watered at his bare chest. She ran her hand up it and looked at him seriously, "I just really need you right now, Damon. Like really," she whispered huskily into his ear, and he shivered.

With some help, they were both out of their clothes before long and Damon was lying on the bed with Caroline hovering over him. He inserted two fingers inside her and he groaned.

"Holy shit, Caroline," he said, pumping his fingers into her, "You are fucking soaked."

"It's all for you, baby," she said as he withdrew his fingers. Not really thinking about it, Caroline grabbed his hand and sucked her juices off his fingers. She didn't mind the way she tasted, and with the other guys she'd been with, they seemed to really like it when she tasted herself. Damon was no exception; he watched her do this and he groaned as his cock hardened even more than he thought possible. Caroline reached over into the bedside table and pulled out a condom, ripping open the foil packaging and rolling it onto him, slowly. And even more slowly, so slowly that Damon thought he would spontaneously combust, Caroline slid onto his waiting cock. She groaned at the sensation; it just felt too damn good. But she didn't want slow lovemaking right now, so she started bouncing. She alternated with grinding herself on his cock, and then bouncing on it. Damon reached up and grabbed her breasts, pinching her nipples roughly. The sensation felt too good, and she started bouncing more enthusiastically. Caroline knew that she wasn't going to last for very much longer and leaned down to kiss him. Damon could tell that she was getting close, so he flipped them over so she was on her back and started thrusting inside her, going very deep. Caroline's cries of pleasure were getting louder and louder, and Damon reached in-between them, pinching her clit, and she shattered. She had probably the most intense orgasm she had ever had. His name on her lips pushed Damon over the edge and it wasn't long before he came, too.

He pulled out of her, pulling off the condom and disposing of it in the trash can beside her bed, and laid back down on the bed, "Come on, baby, just lay here with me for a few minutes."

She shrugged before lying with her head on his chest, just listening to his heartbeat. There was silence, but it was very comfortable. It took Caroline by surprise; she had never been with a man that she could be alone with and be completely silent and comfortable with. She took a deep breath and said, "You know, Damon, I'd never really cuddled after sex before you, but I really do think that I like this part. It's nice, and…almost soothing."

"Yes, I like it, too," Damon said, his arms around her. "Lying here, with my arms around you, it's…really nice. I like it."

They had only laid there for about ten minutes before Caroline, looking at the clock, got up. "I've got to pack for Mystic Falls, and then I really do want to be out of here before Nik comes home. However, Bonnie and Jeremy aren't expecting me until tomorrow, -"

"You're really going to spend the night with Judgey?" Damon asked, and Caroline rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"It's been a long time since I've spent any amount of time with Bonnie, Damon," Caroline explained, digging into her closet to pull out some clothes. "I miss her. I'm not as close to her as I am to Elena, and I want to be. I want to get to know my best friend again."

Damon nodded, but Caroline got the feeling that he didn't understand the way that she wanted him to.

"So anyway," she continued, since Damon cut her off, "I was thinking tonight we could get some dinner and I could stay at the boarding house. I mean, if you want me to."

"Hell yes, I want you to," Damon replied, probably almost too enthusiastically. "I want you to, and I know that Elena would really like to see you."

Within thirty minutes, Caroline was dressed and lugging two duffel bags plus her purse. Damon grabbed one of the bags out of her hand and cursed when he did so, "Holy fuck, Caroline, what the hell do you have in here?"

"My sewing supplies. Should be obvious with how much that thing weighs." Caroline put the code into the alarm system and kissed Lizzie on the head before going out the front door.

"Do you want to ride with me?" Damon asked Caroline. She made a face, thinking, before responding, "If I do, you're going to have to bring me back home when I come."

"That's no problem, you know that," Damon said, so Caroline nodded.

They fit all of her stuff in the trunk of his car and they pulled out of her driveway. Caroline looked at Damon, "Before we leave Richmond, we're going to eat at Maria's. Think of this as I'm taking you on a date."

"Who's Maria?"

"She's this really sweet woman that I know through Mother. I did the dresses for her wedding last year, and ever since, she's given me and my family a discount whenever we come in. She's a family friend and I'd love for you to meet her. She also makes really kick ass Italian food, the stuffed chicken marsala there is to die for." Caroline paused for a moment, remembering the night Damon had made that same dish for her, "It doesn't compete with yours, though, baby. Yours is probably one of the best I've ever tasted."

She gave him directions and pretty soon they were in the parking lot at Maria's. As they got out of the car, though, Caroline saw someone, and she could've sworn she was hallucinating, until he spoke.

"Caroline! And…wow, Damon Salvatore? Been a while, hasn't it?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, and grabbed Damon's hand, trying to calm him down, "Tyler," her voice waved, but she took a deep breath. She was not going to cry, especially in front of Tyler Lockwood. "What the fuck are you doing here?"


End file.
